"Ask me if I’ve called my mother. Ask me if I miss you. Ask me if I haven’t showered in five days...."

“Ask me if I’ve called my mother.

Ask me if I miss you.

Ask me if I haven’t showered in five days.

Ask me if I’m still wearing your dirty clothes.

Ask me whether I’ve brushed my hair.

Ask me if the kitchen cabinets have been touched in weeks.

Ask me about the dust.

Ask me about the phone calls.

Ask me about the 5AM drunk and the way I’ve been standing in the dark, letting the shadows hug my hips because your hands are gone.

Ask me to come back.

Ask me why the long silences make it feel like there’s a river in my stomach.

Ask me if it will swallow me whole.

Ask me if I want your mouth back.

Ask me if I want my tongue back.

Ask me if I miss you.

Ask me if I’ve ate.

Ask me if God exists inside of me anymore.

Ask me where the music is.

Ask me where the symphony is.

Tell me where you are.

And then ask me if I miss you.”

- Azra.T “Lipstick Poem”