i longed for you for nights and

waited on this empty bed

but you wouldn’t come

i heard the walls closing in

when you stood naked

in the center of the room

but refused your own body

the same walls that cringed when you

said you would ram and bash your

hips until they bruised

or broke. and you did.

my darling, when i speak of

your dark hair flowing

like a veil in the free wind

you look at me with

strange and empty eyes

is it because you

doubt that your body exists?

is it because you

refuse it? is it because

the wounds and scars on

your limbs have become

deafening?

i only wished to

hold you, and you asked

me how can i hold

something that is not complete?

and i should’ve said: it is if

you choose it to be.

Hanna Abi Akl

I write extensively about every aspect of being “human.”