“Places You Marked” by Rahil Najafabadi - July 18, 2023

PLACES YOU MARKED

In the hallway of a shut off feeling, beneath my thought
of you, there is another dim passage. More to know
than to feel when I put on the gown of attachment.
I’m pulled by something, but it’s gone by the time
I arrive. It’s so faux like a picture, everything stays
in its own place. I was sold the idea of tearful smiles,
and I laughed through the absence to make it true.
I was sold for the pink warmth of womanhood, love
words that watered the plant of a person. I am still,
warm, heated with the same burnt anger, like the color
of desert sand when it gets into your eyes. Just see––

Don’t try to remove the distance. It’s clear now,
suddenly the light is enough when I walk behind
the moon. You walk behind me, but we come back​ in circles.