I wrote this poem in 5 minutes, without editing, during a ‘guided free-writing’ workshop. Please forgive me if it is substandard, or a bit unstructured.
Purple silk rolls out from a palace cast in gold,
Kissing the feet of men walking, heads down, towards the cemetery.
I stand outside, on the balcony, lace curtains
Caressing my hair as
Their blood is absorbed, and the soil I once tread on becomes
Purple silk.
The blue sky overhead is moving closer- it wants to eat me alive.
My crimson dress trails behind me, the colour of blood and
Roses. The sky glistens, drapes over my shoulders like a comfortable shawl.
I take myself to the stars, pick them like cherries and place them on my head.
Mother Nature herself. What a queen.
What a cruel, cruel queen
who steps on graves to make herself feel more alive.
My power lies where nobody can steal it,
They are too busy being distracted by the glimmer of the stars,
They do not see the universe behind my eyes.
There is nothing more worthless than gold,
Nothing more fragile
than the human ego.
My crown rested on my smoothened palms, I look outside.
It is dark and there is nobody there,
Only purple silk
dancing to nobody’s tune.
Sadia Ahmed, 2017
