The return Poem by Zehra Nigah

Brimming with culture, the very same shops,
streets embellished with history;
with hands stretched out
or heads bowed,
in corners, the very same trees;
in the flurry of flickering lights
hums a city,
where once we lived.
I was restive, perturbed,
your mind at peace, you were content,
lost in your own company;
chained by silent commitments,
I axed through
the jungle of loneliness;
unawares, the city,
collapsed over me,
a house of cards,
crashing down at the slightest motion;
collecting myself,
from here I escaped.

Long after,
to the same city
I have returned;
in the same streets I often ramble,
laze about in the same gardens;
your habits have grown over me;
my mind at peace, I am content,
lost in my own company.

The journey of togetherness
has its price,
unlike the simple, divergent paths.

Translated by Yasmin Hameed