Hajib
The car rounds my corner
as I count breaths while waiting
through a familiar melange
of urine and rotted fish
She is framed in black hajib
children seated in the back
of course she is not driving
and her gaze catches my eye
She’s not looking at me
She’s not looking at anything
as her eyes light the boulevard
She is somewhere, not here
I know that intensely
because I know that look
She’s more than distant
from her rented reality
She leads a double life
far from the stench of the boulevard
far from that car and the code that veils her
She speaks to me long distance
in freestyle and I can hear her laughter
see her hair carried along the breeze
its highlights caressing sunkissed shoulders
as she watches her children play
near an ocean, somewhere
I know that look
I have self swathed in hajib to please
My eyes grew weary on roads
I would have traveled
if not for shackles, unseen but real
yet I had choices, keys
and unfortunately, cowardice
I took too long to carve a path
I see her youth and scream silently
She is gone. Did she hear me somehow?
Her chains are stronger
those keys lie protected in dogma and fire
I knew her when I saw her eyes
but we are worlds apart.
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