Conflagrations, a poem by Faleeha Hassan

You there, seated opposite me,

Within reach of love,

May I borrow your smile

Long enough for a poem?

Occasionally my sorrow betrays me,

And I see you

Sailing off, a resplendently silent prince.

You are, simply put, my alter ego.

You force me to don my disappointments

And strip streets of their astonishment.

I live with you when dreaming

And quit you while awake,

To say: How miserable love is to envy us

Till we find no legal lifetime

In which to confess to one another

We’re lovers.