Cut to an alternate universe where alternate universes exist / The night is razor-mouthed & restless / cracks open the sky and turns the sun into yolk without trying / someone on the street tells me to give my mother their salaam / In this town I am a good daughter. In this town, I replace the skin on the bottom of my feet and use cupid's bow as a sundial / Yeah I caught the moon with my teeth and I'm not even sorry / Me and my wishbone of a mouth / When no one is looking, I drag the poem out from under unwashed sheets / All my dreams start with the nervousness of an unfamiliar voice in my ear / Or the nervousness of a familiar voice in my ear / You are probably terrified of both. We know that. / Go back to sleep already / The dark does not hold grudges / The dark does not ask how you got here / How you came to be / Why you're never going back.
Nawaal K (she/her) is 21 year old Black-British student. This poem was written after she was unable to fall asleep while worrying about the future, how life could be different if she weren't so afraid of anything, and whether she will ever manage to make it out of the dark.
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