How Shall I Speak To You Today? Poem by Samah Khan

I.

How shall I speak to you today?
Shall I speak with words of love upon my trembling lips?
Can I call you my sky, can I call you my sun,
Can I call you the rain or the total eclipse?

Your words are like beads strung upon a golden chain,
Forever upon my breast, they shall remain-
And do you see that I breathe you into my soul?
For you are the air that makes me whole.

Shall I not make claims of never-ending love now?
Is it time yet for me to speak of ever-abiding affection?
Ah, if only your eyes didn't wander so when I spoke-
Are my tiresome words to blame for this deflection?

You search the crowds for a lady to dance with-
The promiscuous blonde girl speaks sheer nonsense with you;
The pasty-faced brunette with the overdone rouge
Holds your interest longer than I do!

Perhaps if I were pretty-perhaps if I weren't plain,
Maybe then my affections wouldn't all be in vain!
Perhaps if the world didn't see only as far as the skin-
Then maybe you'd hear my words of the love over the swearing din.

II.

I speak out of desperation-merely to keep you here with me,
No force upon the earth is so great that would hold you against your will;
I see your eyes wandering, losing focus, getting lost-
But in a trembling voice, I drag on still.

Ours is like the last lap of a race that had long been surrendered
But yet, for the sake of a faux pride, I make us run till the end-
And as you tire, I light our fire
Two shadows, a second huddled and at once, beginning to rend.

But I have love and you have loyalty
And together perhaps we can reach a common ground
Or else, speak once and banish me to the earth
(Ah! Sweet fate hath sworn to always confound!)