When the vase broke and the window in the background shattered,
I felt a rumbling in the foundations of my world;
Like thunderclouds crashing over an ocean of pain,
I felt the waves rise high and dive down.
It was in my head, that picture I created,
That vision I held dear and cherished in the night,
Our lives were as brittle as a thin sheet of ice,
And with the first step, the ice broke.
I was standing at the edge of the road with my hair flying around my head,
My bags in my hand and an open door behind;
Home brightness spilled out and turned the wet cobblestones silver,
But your shadow never darkened the light.
I think of those times when we assembled these blocks,
When we put together our towers and turrets,
When the portcullis was strong and deep our moat,
When the castle walls were high and the enemy smote;
Our dreams were like rainbows with pots of gold,
Tantalizing plans and ideas bold,
Then the first wind came and the tower shingles fell,
You are I watched from the courtyard and didn’t help.
Now the keep has caved in and my crown lies in the dust,
A castle in the clouds has come to Earth,
It was one brick falling that started the end,
And both of us failed when we came to that bend.
--Aqsa Mustafa
