say you need to see me
book a hotel down south
burn your cigarette through the sheets
and a void in my mouth
past promises hang in the room
mingling eagerly with my doubt
should we talk
i say
(but i don’t know how)
outside
heat emits beats
a loud city sound
you are quiet and still
but not enough to warrant silence
there is a stir
a restless nicotine charged
murmur
you said you needed to see me
my mouth void spits shapes
memorising stitches on curtain drapes
your voice is all it takes
hearing first crack of it
dawnlike -
afraid to move my gaze
i stay fixated on moonlight
you say you did it
i say you’ve said this before
but with every word i speak
i am bleached by your sun more
at a hotel
when you leave
do the walls
hear what you
came here for
By Lailah Choudhry.