Name You

In Slow deep puffs I take you,

The deeper I breathe the deeper you go into me,

In slow deep gulps I take you,

The deeper I take the heavier you go into me.

You’re that weed that mixes into my soul,
You’re that drink that mixes into my soul,
In deep strokes I paint you on my canvas,
In slow strokes of my pen, I write you in my poetry.

You’re a poem that stabs right through me,
You’re a painting that withers me down into pieces,
In slow, very slow motion you walked into my life,
In slow, very steadily you broke me into tiny little pieces.

You’re that art which inspires yet at the same time breaks me,

You’re that song, which is beautifully written but painful for the heart to hear,

You’re that weed that takes into me slowly,

Makes me go insane every time I see you.

You’re but just a person,
Whose little presence makes a great difference,
What should I name you?
A weed I never puffed, or the drink I never drank?

What should I name you, unknown?
A person I never had?
Or a person who never was?

You’re that one who was there but wasn’t,
You’re that one who burned me but didn’t,
You’re that one who killed my soul but didn’t,
You’re that one who broke me into pieces but didn’t.

Tell me, unknown,
What should I name you?
The heart broker,
The soul killer?
The weed, the drink,

Tell me, unknown,
What should I name you?
Cause, I want to write you in a book.
© Ashraf Shaikh