Long after I'm gone

By Nabiha Aijaz

Long after I'm gone I pray the world to long for the shape of my feet and the number of lines it had,

Long after I'm gone I pray the world to crave for the face i made looking at it, the sun, the sky, the sea, the earth,

Long after I'm gone I pray the world to long for my breath and my sighs, my anger and my laughter,

My hatred and my aching,

And the way my skin would wrinkle up and wet itself as I screamed and cried and turned red and pulled out my hair knowing I'd be forgotten.

Long after I am gone I pray the world to blanket me and consume my entire being, to eat me up raw, to drink me down to the bones till I become one with it.

Long after I am gone I pray the world to long for me and grieve.

I pray the world to mourn and grieve to hear the utter of my sound, the movement of my lips, the color of my skin under the setting sun,

I pray the world to fall on its knees,

Long after I'm gone I pray the world to cry over the way my heart beat itself and the melody it made as I walked

I pray the world to fall on its knees, longing for my existence-

By Nabiha Aijaz