Tell Me You're Home by Zainab Batool (18, Pakistan)

Tell me you're home and talk to me, love
There are pieces of me shattered on the floor
My eyes are scarlet, my skin paler
And there's grief pounding on my door
It's late
I'm tired, on the brink of losing
Either my hands
Or my heart
On the edge
Of those cliffs

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Where one just falls
The shores that just drown
In everything that dares to look
Through the trackless oceanside waves
Thrashing one after another
As if breathing
Harsh and distorted
Trying to live, holding on to the threads of life
So subtle
There once was a fear
Of breaking
Something
And now
My pieces lie shattered on the floor
As I wait for you
To tell me
You're home
So I can tell you
I'm tired
And that
I cannot breathe
As if the ocean
Is leaving the shores
Dry
And desolated
As if
Someone is taking
My hands
And my heart
Away
While I only wait
For you
To tell me
You're home
So I can tell you
I'm tired

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