azan

this music makes her cry and cry without knowing why
shaking her in places she's never been touched,
healing and ripping in tandem,
teaching her things she never knew she didn't know.

what kind of music is this?

"this is music for God."

sing

i would like to hear you sing me to sleep
but i'm afraid your voice will crack and break
with all the things you do not say.

and then i will be forced to admit
i do not know you at all.

swim to me

i will miss the smell of your skin
when i go across the ocean.

i would ask you to swim to me
but i know you would laugh
and think it was a joke.

and that would hurt me more than you know.

lipstick

i watch you change opinions like clothes
and try on love like shades of lipstick.

lipstick always tasted to me like a prison

chemical and thick, coating and smothering.

the ruby red

makes your teeth look brighter than they are.

you are so comfortable in deceit,

your second skin.

i will always remember you bare-lipped and laughing
when your teeth did not shine
back before you didn't love me.

i don't tell myself you never did

because that would hurt too much.

i know you will tell me now. i am ready.

fit

i will remember you on flat rooftops
when i whisper your name into pomegranate trees
and whisper your description to the grape vines.

you do not fit here. flat rooftops hold my home
the world spread out before me
and you are far away.

you do not fit. i love you.

compassion

i love you too much
to let you love me like this.

i will lie to your face and call it compassion.

forgive me, my love.

blush

the blushes from their cheeks warm me when i am cold.
i love them, but do not have the words.

i hope they know. oh, how i hope they know.