Why Are You so Hostile To Me

By Safa Mahmood

Though I do not love them now,

echoes of their laughs sometimes still

stop me dead in my tracks,

but memories no longer overflow and spill.

You tilt your head and lean with eyes half-closed,

I caress the nape of your neck, Grief.

But you, always so hostile to me,

you catch my skin and sink your teeth.

I kiss you despite, on your eyes,

and coo your name (Grief) as it is.

You twitch, and say you are Love.

Is there such a deceptive trick as this?

By Safa Mahmood