Sameen Borker

“She liked fuchsia better – a colour with personality.”
― Elif Shafak, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

“Nothing Here is Enough”

I need a parrot,
identical days,
a quantity of needles,
and artificial ink
to make history.

I need veiled eyelids,
black lines,
and ruined puppets
to make geography.

I need a sky wider than longing,
and water that is not H2O
to make wings.

The days are no longer enough
to distinguish the missing.
I no longer see you
because I no longer dream.
I offer a tear to the rain
as if scattering you
in the Dead Sea,
and in order to sing you,
I need glass to muffle the sound.”
― Dunya Mikhail, The War Works Hard

“A hushed concentration permeated his movements, and his eyes watched her intently, oblivious to everything else, as though she was, and had always been, the centre of the world.”
― Elif Shafak, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

“Believe your pain.’ This awful bear hug is no mistake. Nothing that disturbs you is. Remember all along that there is no embrace in this world that won’t finally unclasp.”
― Joseph Brodsky, On Grief And Reason: Essays