A Rose Poem by Saqib Hussain

1
I sometimes sit hunched over
Arms wrapped around me
As if trying to protect myself from further hurt
And starving for love
I have been hurt a lot by people
Or is it just that I have let them hurt me?
As I lean forward on my toes, heels lift off the ground
As if in nervous expectation of further hurt
When did I become so insular?

2
I long to walk along an open green field
Or even a hot desert
But what use would the openness of a field,
A desert, be if I stay hiding in my cocoon
And cruelly clip my own wings
Whenever they peep out

3
The other day I saw a woman walking home
I think she had just finished work
She hurried with a look of semi-satisfaction
As if she had found her place in the world
But was scared of the fragility of her situation
Maybe that's why she averted her eyes
When a stranger saw her
And crept further into her invisible
Yet oh so visible shell

4
And maybe she's scared too,
That I might somehow break this shell
Just by noticing it
Shells are fragile things
She'll probably jump if the man there
Hands her that leaflet, as I do
When they invade my overly private space

5
I now stretch my arms above me and look up
In my bedroom the light is on,
And having just washed my face
I see rainbows of colours on my eyelashes
I will call them rainbows of hope
I'll try and be more open from tomorrow
Raise my chin up a few degrees
And maybe, just maybe, I will find my place in the world
And smile a fuller, more genuine smile
And open up gently
Like a rose, kissed by the morning

Taken from my book 'Contemplate'