Sometimes

I wonder if I am

A shard of glass

Safely disposed

Away from any exposed flesh

A burning ember separated

From dry cotton

It wishes it gets to know

A little too intimately

For a fleeting second

A malignant tumour

Discovered early

Before it could cut short

A mother's …

you fall in love

over a phone call

in the backseat of the cinema

reading whatsapps at 1 am

at a candle lit dinner

or when you're the first to hear about their day

you fall in love

every time you work out

or take a good shower

sit down …

Am I doomed

To an existence

Where you

You, you, and you

(Yes, I know you're all the same—

though it took me a while to catch on)

Will be near enough to see

But never to hold?

Always tantalisingly close

But no cigar?

To check up on

After a …

Thimal is making me read Richard de Zoysa's work.

Back when the dictator in chief cared about what was written in English about the government, and dissent was treated with abduction, torture and a gunshot to the back of the head (if you were lucky), de Zoysa stood for …