These words were written for you

FOREWORD: I haven't written a single poem since I completed my Creative Writing module in school, back in 2015. My previous feeble attempts were deemed unworthy of even the second draft so I gave up poetry. Until now. This collection of poem was written on 3 March 2017, influenced by Ed Sheeran's latest album, Divide.

TO YOU: My senses were heightened and I was instantaneously alert to my surroundings. You. The things that reminded me of you were translated into words, then pieced into poems. If you read them, and if you read between the lines, you'll recognise yourself; these words were written for you, my dear.

 

i fell back into
penning poems
chasing moonlight

i learnt your secret
one by one, then the second
maybe | | - another - | |

then all at once
i knew i was either
lucky or screwed

she was a flower
living on stolen time

you, a buzzing bee
tasked with pollination

you'd never settle
you could saunter in your garden forever

because she wasn't
flower of the flock


SAFE


fight or flight
we took flight

never said
but i wanted
you to  s + a y


HIROSHIMA


four thousand, seven hundred and
twenty one miles away
my favourite city

if i told you —
there is warmth in winter
if i told you —
i found home in your coat


TAIPEI


footprints over the world
nowhere i belonged

home —
a country, a place,
a feeling, a person,
sometimes   y o u

little was known but
you were my safety net
little did i know
you were not my home to return to


A THEORY


That's it.


DOUSED


pizza for breakfast
movie stills, summer nights
shared Lycurgus Cup
— the poison, an elixir

.ignition {
her in you arms
flames crackling incessantly
you were deaf to her
misplaced comfort }

no hearts and flowers  
but love, she had it all
//// suddenly she was drowning /

ASHES


sparks in your eyes
blind to your lies

we might set fire to the town
so you burnt me down

no vowels
stillness at zero hours

dawn to dusk
done and dusted