Literary Diaries

Bizarre Memoirs

by RANIA HANI MOALLEM

I wonder if you still paint your
face with novel features at
sundown, if the lips you once
wore still split as untruths caress
your wits with new principles;
meant for a new season.

I never thought you would leave
permanent tokens behind your feet.

Lies, that’s all I remember,
as absurd words sprint deep
through unaligned recollections
each time your song plays
at the back of my mind.

Shame…

You were as gentle as a dove, alas
never held the wisdom of a real
serpent..

-I fled-

Nonsensical

by RANIA HANI MOALLEM

Throttling within colors, contours
not sure hitherto on what letter
I am hanging, as I pen down
this verse, or the color featuring
those tapping fingertips;
stripped from each inch of sanity…

*Sigh*

Carrying a stumbling mind, tripping from
one crowd into another, measuring miles
I possibly will choke with, presently
before I seize the ladder back,

for like a wearied smoldering cigarette,
he guides deep breaths in;
I burn to ashes.