By Rania Rashid

I want to sit in a field full of sunflowers,
with your head in my lap,
as I braid flowers in your hair,
while you read me Faiz ki shayari,
honey dripping from every word that leaves your mouth,
a union that was a long time coming,
gulon mein rang bharay, baad e naubahar chalay,
the epitome of sensuality and love,

I want to hold your hand,
without the fear of letting go, but someday I will have to,
aur bhi dukh hain zamane mein mohabbat ke siwa,
the sensation warm and nostalgic,
like dried roses in cloth clad notebooks,
the pages of which have turned brown,
yet they carry excerpts from love’s treatise,
a confounding tale of devotion,

I want to write you love letters,
something you could hold onto,
I shall take the vintage teacup from your hand,
and quaff the chamomile tea that you’d been sipping on,
because that is the closest our lips will ever be,
aik tamanna sataati rahi raat bhar,
that is what I will hold onto for the rest of my life,
an attempt to console my breaking heart