she was a coward

that found her voice with a pen;

now all read her roar.

- N. M. Shami -

she drinks

stardust and comets.

she breathes

sapphires and gold dust.

and still most

cannot look past

the sadness that

lingers in her eyes,

locked.

- N. M. Shami -

aloof aptitude for apathy

and adamant abstinence away from allegiance

are the assets of your arsenal;

armed accomplices

to an adept assailant,

aiding the annihilation of authentic and ambivalent hearts alike.

- N. M. Shami -

pure joy the hue of grass green,

dawning orange, lavender,

and yellow sunflowers

caught in the breeze

colored every inch of his face

as he looked upon her

and the way her eyes danced

like blue white flames

in the hearth of

her spirit and adventure.

- N. M. Shami -

what if?

the nostalgia of the question

hides within the further corners of my mind,

only to emerge and dance haphazardly across its boundaries,

tiptoeing in and out to the rhythm of my indecision.

- N. M. Shami -

“Would a love like the ocean satisfy you?” he whispered into

the darkness between them.

“Yes,” she replied with clear certainty.

“A romantic disillusion, darling,” he said. “The ocean is a vast emptiness - merciless rough waters of changing currents and dangerous black mystery beneath its deceiving surface.”

“Yes, nonetheless,” she insisted, reaching across the sheets to intertwine his fingers with hers.

“Its waves always return to the shore.”

- N. M. Shami -