You departed in a glimmer of diamond light,
yet your crafted terror lingered in my senses.
Far across the sky, the birds were still migrating,
perhaps their desires were as unruly as mine.

Your nose-ring, adorned with blue butterflies,
was a work of art in itself.
Your body, sculpted like a masterpiece,
you, an aesthetic god unto yourself.

Upon your skin I glimpse hibiscus blossoms in bloom,
yet you remain an indifferent cactus.
You are Ellora, a pleasure untouched by happiness,
the naïve love inside my crippled poetry.

You are the hidden theorem lodged within my unerring eyes.
You are Freud’s antithesis.
You are Lilith, fierce and empowered,
hurling blazing words alongside Afridi.

Today begins our separate aquatic wonder,
the shimmer of sunlight on water.
No more the venomous bite of ancient darkness.

You are a chromosome, a white heron in flight.
You are an unrighteous creature of paradise.
Remain upon the summit of the mountain,
while I carry a raging fire within my chest.

You scatter steam from your lips instead of kisses.
At the sound of your kiss, butterflies take wing,
and birds flee in fear.

Is this, then, the ancient body's secret?
The mysterious play of chromosomes?