i count your steps
one – out of my reach
two – you’re almost there, between the burning lilies
three – you’re here but nowhere to be seen
you’re here in the flickering of the rainbow lights,
in the static images of my days
that are filled with your emptiness
and i wish i didn’t begin the countdown;
who knew that the numbers wouldn’t add up
to us
& in these rainbow lights
your visage outshines my screaming veins-
entrapping it within a clamour of impossibilities that waste me away, one…two…three;
i count the locks to my keys, the ones you left with
& the ones i lost to the sea
rainbow lights
there is no poetic sunshine where i come from
there is no dreamy night filled with stars and the scent of lovely roses
there is nothing but the truth,
the cold hard bathroom tiles,
the grey pavement
& a dreary lane
across the
table
where they serve grief,
with a doze of sensibility.
-Nameera Anjum Khan
Day 4 prompt – the empty mall food court.
Art by Henrietta Harris.
Nameera Ever After 