Fawn

And as May arrives, my shell cracks open,and maybe I do want to be loved as well.

But then “Shh,” says my mind “they mustn’t know you are so much more than flesh and bones.”

They should never see the tender parts of you, pack it up before June.

1:50 to 2:08

the English word gauze

(finely woven medical cloth)

comes from the Arabic word غزةً or Ghazza because Gazans have been skilled weavers for centuries

I wondered then

how many of our wounds have been dressed because of them

and how many of theirs have been left open because of us.

The least you could do is be a little kinder.

when nothing seemed different,

it all quietly ended.

I walked home slowly,

with unsaid words sitting heavy in my pockets,

and beside me was the same person

I had first seen

on my way to university.

The only difference was that this time we took home hearts full of memories