The Breaking of a Family

The room is lit with yellow light
The smell of food is dry and cold
just a hint lingers in the air,
The table sits in a corner with four chairs, all scattered about
The plates dressed in an incomplete meal
The spoons and forks begging to be cleaned
And half empty glasses strewn about
The three year old daughter and her parents
have just finished a meal,
A family that dines together.

Weeks later, the table sits lonely
The forks, spoons, glasses yearn to be with each other
The yellow light hides in the ends of wires,
in the dusty insides of the bulb;
The family hasn't had dinner together in a while
for he has started to cook his own meals.

There is one world that I know of

The one that I see through the lens of my rose-tinted glasses

Where I see puppies playing in the rain

Jumping on the grass

Wagging their tail

Beautiful big eyes of a puppy making a puppy face;

A world full of orange-black butterflies

Dancing over the grass

Fluttering their wings

Inspiring many a poet to write.

There is one world that I know of

That I see through my rose-tinted lens

And then there is another world

Where I see a puppy eating a butterfly.

You give me the sweetest scent as I hide my face in the pillows

The warmest warmth as I wrap my body around the rajai

And in your calm quiet, my music finds new meaning.

You give me warm food to dig my cold hands into

You bring me hot kawah at night to heat my insides

You give me Diwali days and bundles of ferry lights.

You become my reason to ask for longer tighter hugs

You give me excuses to hold hands

And every year when you come to make the world cold

You remind me to stay warm at heart.

In return, I pretend to hug you when the wind passes me by

And I close my eyes to listen if you’re trying to say ‘hi’

At night, I send you kisses through the sky.

Welcome back to your fleeting affair

Welcome home, winters.