Published on 12:00 AM, March 02, 2024

POETRY

A journey through you

ILLUSTRATION: AMREETA LETHE

I took a lonely stroll 
on the hollows of your cheeks
dusted off your iris  
painted on a kiss.
Wandered through and through
On your limbs akin to logs,
And swam across your body,
Traveled as an albatross.
I placed my humming buzzwords
Some with love, in your ears
And rhymed myself with bedsheets
To save poems from our affair.
.
You were bleeding in my sandbox,
The grains clumped to forge a bond
With scheming trails of petals, 
Leading to our pots of gold.
The shadowed realms are waiting,
poison is far too common in love,
So, I meddled with your toxins, 
to break them into shards.
Hold your tongue my sorry lover,
Know that you've forgotten to speak,
Let go, so I can steer you,
Let my kiss render you meek.

Protiti Rasnaha Kamal is a graduate student at Tufts University, USA. Her debut poetry collection titled Bare Conversations was published in January 2022 by Journeyman Books.