#thepaperbackexpress

[thepaperbackexpress]

The roads of the city,

Cradle the tired footsteps

Of migrant workers,

Like a mother cradles the slowing heartbeat of her newborn;

Knowing their time together

Won’t be too long.

They came to the city,

Filled with dreams,

A promise, a new dawn,

A hope for a better life,

Willing to endure any strife.

Much like a mother,

Pregnant with life,

Hoping, dreaming,

Musing to birth a new life,

Willing to endure the strife.

They toiled, day after day,

Working late hours into the night.

Sometimes sacrificing their human rights.

Through sweat, tears, and low pay,

They endured the tribulations of the day.

Not all battles end in victory

For both sides.

Nor do battles, ever, end in peace.

Harmony remains a far cry.

Not all mothers

Birth life.

And so, the migrant worker,

Defenseless like a heartbroken mother,

Shieldless like a defeated soldier,

Continues to walk

Down the road of a city

That failed humanity.

Their bags, bundles, and boxes,

Packed with the cries of unfed children, Rumblings of hungry stomachs and

The ache of shattered hearts, hopes, and futures.

Who will cry for the migrant worker?

Their tears fail to fall to the floor.

When will this tribulation come to an end?

Lifeless wrists stamped with numbers.

When will this trial of humanity

Witness state accountability?

Who will endure the pain of a tearless mother holding on to her infant’s lifeless body?

[thepaperbackexpress]

“Today, I will teach you how to swim”,

Said, the funny coach on a whim.

My first day in this new school,

Now, I was asked to dive into the deep pool.

The little girls before me easily leapt,

At my turn, I wept.

Rolling into a ball on the floor

I ran toward the exit door.

My coach, two seniors, retorted,

The three swung me in the air,

Flung me like a canon, without a care.

Down in the depths of the deep blue,

The water’s embrace felt like glue.

I couldn’t hear my coach,

Or the other girls’ approach.

Everything drowned away.

There, in the most unexpected way,

I had found comforting silence.

I didn’t drown,

But kept on the frown.

My coach saw my eyes,

That was her prize.

No tears,

My fear had resigned,

Just as she had determined.

[thepaperbackexpress]

Here I am, come and find me.

Love is no game of Hide and Seek.

[thepaperbackexpress]

And so, he lived each day of his life wondering. Would his life have been better if he chose to stay with her? Had happiness come with a tag that bore her name? Why wasn’t he genuinely in love with the girl he chose to marry? Why was his first love still the last thought of his day? He saw her face in a crowded street. He thought of her when he ate chocolate chip cookies. There wasn’t a way to stop it. And so, he lived each day of his life wondering if he’d see her cross the street, shop in a mall, or munch on nachos outside the cinema hall. He always looked, not knowing, she too, lived each day of her life wondering.

[thepaperbackexpress]

dreams like sand slowly slip,

my fingers struggle to grip,

the last grain,

the last thought

that must have been of you.

[thepaperbackexpress]

She boarded the train

Destined for a ride

Down Memory Lane.

The station master blew the whistle

The train driver chimed the bell,

It was time to bid farewell.

Her backpack carried

Keep-sakes from days tarried.

She wasn’t sure if she was ready

For a ride down the dark alley.

The train would stop at

Happiness Road,

Fantasy Station,

Forget-me-not Bagh,

and lastly, the darkest

Valley of Painful Street.

She wasn’t ready for the last one,

It was too dark to traverse

Without a map.

The train moved on,

She got down at the second last stop.

Forget-me-not Bagh had traces of faces plastered all around.

She couldn’t, quite, remember their names.

Yet, they all called out to her,

Hollering her to remember them.

She ran and ran, then reached

A flowing stream.

Here her reflection looked back

At her and whispered,

“Remember, me?”

[thepaperbackexpress]

Lost owl, 

Why do you sleep? 

Isn’t the night your time to keep?

Lost owl, 

Why do you cry?

You know the discouraging voices are akin to a lie.

Lost owl, 

Why do you doubt?

The future will be yours, once you’re out and about. 

- @thepaperbackexpress 

[thepaperbackexpress]

- @thepaperbackexpress

[endlesswordsonapage]

The curved, whispers

of our being

were the falling stars

against the sky.

We were the light

born of the darkness,

the explosion of hope

on the canvas

of harsh reality.

Our kaleidoscope

kept them mesmerised,

our swaying dance

kept them awed

for we always

burnt bright,

we always

burnt true

and even

as we were

crashing to oblivion,

being surrendered

to the unknown

still,

they wished upon us,

wished upon

the endless love

between two.

- Lovers lost to night

“the night was paper and we were ink.”

—

[thepaperbackexpress]

[thepaperbackexpress]

Sunny haze

You are the rainbow 

that seeps in through the window.

The one that catches the sun,

between puddles on the run.

Instead of the sky, 

you occur, without notice

catching me by surprise.

Through the cracks, 

You find your way.

You appear

and make my day.

- @thepaperbackexpress

[thepaperbackexpress]

Hide and seek

There’s a place for everything

They say,

Nothing is ever truly lost.

Like your favorite toy that decided to hide, one day,

or the yellow blanket that lay too long in the hay,

They say, even if things are lost,

One day they return, 

Sometimes in kind or

They continue to live on 

In a small crevice of our mind.

Lost money, shoes, clothes, books, toys, 

Phones, jewelry, lipstick, make up, bikes, perfume...

But what about lost friends — where do they go?

The friends we lost along the way,

Due to distance, space and time,

Cannot be caged inside our mind.

They move on

And that, you discover, is fine,

Yet, if ever you miss their smile,

Look deep within,

Search every crevice,

Every crack,

Every hiding spot,

For you will find,

A glimmer of a precious smile,

All too familiar.

One you’ve seen before. 

Packed inside a box that says 

‘Handle with care, Fragile’.

This is no game of Hide and Seek, 

You ask, 

What took you so long?

Memories don’t engage in reason, 

They simply exist.

Like your favorite doll,

You lost when you were two

But found after hours of searching. 

There she was all ready for an evening 

Tea party.

Some things never change, 

No matter the time and space. 

- @thepaperbackexpress

[thepaperbackexpress]

You must go on

On days I don't want to leave my bed, 

a voice inside my head  

says, "You must go on  

find your soul' song  

find the reason  

for this season  

sow seeds of hope and love, and in due time  

you will have found a new rhyme.”

- @thepaperbackexpress

[thepaperbackexpress]

Writing is a terribly lonely process.

@thepaperbackexpress

[thepaperbackexpress]

Butterfly stitches, my mother says, are capable of fixing the deepest of gashes

so when you tore my heart with your poisoned words,

they hit me like a predator out for its prey

crippled on the floor, i whispered, butterfly stitches can make it all go away.

- @thepaperbackexpress

[thepaperbackexpress]

someday, you will see the resolve in my self control.

someday, you will know why I stood my ground.

someday, you will have the same resolve to tell me about your scars. allow me access to the memories that haunt you, the people that tormented you, the words that snarled at you.

may i be, ready. may my shoulders stay strong. may i be worthy of your vulnerability, gentle enough to hold your hand, strong enough to bear the sting of all the horrors your eyes have seen and feet have run from. and may i learn to be by your side. fully perceiving the weight of your heart’ burdens.

- @thepaperbackexpress