Poem

I cannot rest..

by Zaina Anwar

It is slightly sweet the scent

of your breath

as you lie here oblivious

to all but your dreams,

so dangerously close

to me.

I want to run I have

always wanted to run

this stuffy atmosphere

of placid intimacy

is not suitable

for a wanderer like me.

I am not interested

in you or anything else

for this turbulent inner life

of mine would not let me rest,

poking constantly

at my heart to flee.

Intimacy binds,

a trap lies in wait

or maybe it's just

a psychological flaw

in me

never fixed.

O but I cannot rest

I fall and lift myself

exhausted,

caught in a closed circle

like a frenzied moth fleeing

from one flash of illusion

to another.