My Shadow Darts in Love

 By Zhema

This poem is dedicated to my sister, Carly. May you be destined to be with him, and if not, let love find it's path as blessed by Allah.

My shadow darts as if racing with my body

When the tent lights flicker

Encircling your sturdy frame out there

Standing tall like a knight.

Then I knock hard on the boundary of the virtual glass, impossible

To let my body meet yours in reality.

“Wait until the serene slumber, O lover!” they say.

Pretending or insane, who knows?

I force it with a heartbeat that never calms.

“He is the sleepless longing, always awake—wake him!”

Suddenly, my consciousness falls silent.

I bow my head, a soft apology to those

Who guided you through storms and shadows.

For my love, as fierce as the sun,

Dared to disrupt their noble paths.

But then I pause and listen—

What does my heart feel when longing for you?

It whispers softly: patience.

For love unbridled can lose its way,

And I must not let this yearning devour me whole.

I promise to hold steady,

To walk with grace,

To be a woman deserving of you,

A mirror to your noble soul.

Oh, my Palestinian knight,

With eyes that carry the weight of a nation's hope,

You are more than just beauty—

You are the strength of truth.

And so I wait,

Not with desperation but with devotion.

For when the time is right,

My love will shine as brightly as yours,

And we shall meet—not in fleeting dreams,

But in the reality of love fulfilled.

Tumbang Miri, 11 January 2025.