Love was around, I had blinders on
A Black Balloon
The world turned over— an unverifiable hypothesis.
I kept burning the pages of self-explanatory mistakes that seized days, dazed my sleep—
With a heart full of disdain.
Warmth wraps me, tracing a path down my neck. As I turn over, the sun brushes against my cheek like a soft, imperial kiss—
Maa.
Standing there, watching me with gentle eyes— That’s when I found love.
Hours travel slowly in my desolate land,
beneath all the visible, tumultuous, worldly things.
Things can be ethereal—
the mythological story books, nestled in unforgotten dust, kept like mystic charms.
Love found me—
when we cramped up on the red leather couch, all five of us, holding our stomachs, bursting into laughter,
gasping for breath.
In the cracks of the leather lies the map of every joyous summer afternoon.
I was always so much happier in April.
In torrid summers, olives lay on Nana’s rooftop, sunbaked—
The pickles healed travailing wounds with balsam magic.
I found the ring Apuni gave me—long lost. The pearl’s quiet glow rested in my palms. “How did the silver band even rust that much?” Tears traced down my rough skin.
I wandered through the wardrobe,
felt the splendor—scent of sandalwood and resilience.
Nani’s saree—
the white pinnacle, buttery smooth, woven with her laughter, tears, and legacy.
Something crackled—
I found Nana’s radio, static-laced, no longer polished, yet still humming the old melodies of that era.
Back in my mind, the murmur of forests faintly entranced, where soliloquies transformed into songs.
Glittering rose-colored sun rays flowed like a granting sea.
I opened the door—
the calm rain carried nostalgia,
with a squally rush, ceaseless, stirring the dry leaves.
Love found me—
drop by drop, feather-soft.
Rifah Tasnim Suha often dabbles between daydreaming and melancholic reality. She (loves to) paint words woven with grief. When not dissecting the metamorphic elements of life through poetry, she can be found amidst biological science. She believes the human genome is just a long, rhythmic poem. Rifah is in her Senior year majoring in the Biotechnology program from the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
