And I am Home

Photography: Javeria Iqtidar

Image Manipulation: Nabeel Ahmad

Darling,

This is us, colliding,

 setting ourselves on fire.

         

This is you, becoming my first love,

and then my first headache.

This is us, needing each other,

while knowing how toxic we are.

This is you, smiling at me,

and me, engulfed in your warmth.

This is our love, suffocating us,

while we watch, and watch, and watch.

This is me, saying "enough,"

and taking off my rose-tinted glasses,

This is a flower with bloodstained petals,

covered in your fingerprints

This is you making a show of replacing me.

This is me, not caring.

This is it, I surround myself with myself,

and darling, I am home.

Javeria Iqtidar