When the Lights Went Out

I feel like unmasking myself

Because no one will see.

My heart wants to wring out all the pain

Because it won't dribble

Like the waterdrops

From woolens hung out to dry.

No one will see my face

And laugh out loud

At me, my grief, my misery –

I go and sit in the rocking chair

Which has passed a year in rain and sun

On my veranda, now crawling in dust.

I sneak around the windows

Where I can see the candles burning,

Women doing chores.

I can count heads but their thoughts are unfathomable.

I can see some women sit

On the balconies, just as I do,

Sit in silence, lost in thought.

This moment makes me look up at a piece of sky

Square or rectangular.

I seek for the stars.

This moment allows me to get drunk

On the beauty of a full moon and

Reminds me it's a lovely night

Just like the night when you first came to me.

Now, the darkness allows me to breathe

Or commit a sin

And confess.

Sabiha Sultana is a student of MA in Creative Writing, ULAB.