Long before you were her world,
She’d type and write and scribble
There was so much to write about
She’d do it till her heart felt simple.

She would wake up in the morning
And ache for the release of words,
Hunched over a new Google Doc,
Loving that she could feel heard.

It felt like her mind snapped into place
The day you became her muse.
She had written wayward words before
But not how lovers do.

And suddenly the world was in her palms
Pouring through the plot holes in her brain,
All these beautiful wisps of memories arrived;
You felt like sunflowers, paint, and midnight rain.

She once told you she loved you more than sunsets;
The moon, the sky, the pretty views,
She said she loved you more than her cat Petey,
But you laughed and said it couldn’t be true.

But could you ever understand,
She loved you more than the jewels of the skies.
All those thousands of poems she wrote
Would’ve been given up for your eyes.

You could ask her to destroy her writing
And she would’ve watched them burn away
You ask and she would lay them on the fire
Because she’s obsessed with you, always.

And she’s written you thousands of times;
All these dimensions coming to light;
Angels could carve stars out of her poetry
And people would fall in love with the sight.

And when you left, her words grew quiet.
She couldn’t write, speak or sing.
Her hands would never ache again
To write about her poisonous longing.

But maybe relationships will always end.
She knew it when you walked out the door.
She loved you more than poetry,
So yes, she loved you more.

Writer – Alvia Farooqui
Editor – Ally Chu
Artist – Natalie Choi

–September 2024–