for the love of a nation, by Sumaiya Ahmed

the saffron of the kurdish sun
 bleeds out of your veins,
 spilling across the marble floor
 of a carefully constructed house –
 a makeshift home glued together
 for only a month, maybe less.

a silly dream, a foggy spouse
 in the wake of a heavy sleep.
 your pride in your nation,
 a little more than a war torn
 homeland, ripped apart at the seams,
 separated into four lands.

we were just a dream, a
 ‘maybe-in-another-life’, but
 maybe not even then.
 when we put paper to pen,
 do we make any sense?

you dipped the twenty one
 sunbeams into my heart with
 the lightest touch of your lips,
 a brush of a finger and
 january’s kiss.
 by the time february came, we were
 only ‘just friends’, bleeding
 

scarlet and saffron
 roused from sleeping beauty’s slumber.
 you taught me what to accept,
 helped me to build a crown of gold and sapphires,
 placed it carefully onto my head.

and then, like every other dream, a whisper from

the future or a lesson needing to be learnt,

you disappeared. the stains of yellow and gold

have left their mark on the walls

of our paper house, a reminder of a nation

that will one day be freed, so you can go home again.

Sumaiya Ahmed is a student, poet and writer, aiming to break down the boundaries of cultural stigma and shame attached to mental health and sexuality within the South Asian culture, and bringing marginalised topics to light. She has published poetry collections ('Lost and Found' and 'Reality') examining these very issues, questioning religion and the cloud of heartbreak and healing. She is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Poised. You can find out more about Sumaiya here. 
 
 Sumaiya is a Regular Contributor at Teen Belle Magazine.