Kash Baloch — Poetry on Identity, Love, and Survival

I sifted through white sands in coastal cities, longingly searching for an answer; explored every cave, and even sailed all over the Atlantic. Asked every soul that I encountered, but it was all in vain, there was no single solution that would soothe my pain. Shared stories of my travels with priests in churches, and in temples, traded secrets of my findings, with my fellow weary-eyed wanderers. I picked up every pebble, and peeled through blades of grass, climbed ancient trees silently hoping my sadness would not last. Tribes indigenous to Africa taught me how to be free, through them I learned that life could be just as peaceful for me. Ventured to the corners of the world to no avail, escaping from the truth could not change the fact that we failed. I meandered through the Sahara, without a caravan, then risked everything as I narrowly evaded death in Iran. There is nothing that compares to the deafening silence underwater, but even there I was unable to swim away ...

Society is in decline, the blind are leading the blind; fear ignites the masses, then sends the least evolved among us into frenzied states of havoc.  History is repeating itself, as certain lives are still worth more than others, in two millennia we have not accepted that we are all brothers.  Race was created to divide us, then the class system created larger rifts, and somehow we cannot agree on what the damage really is.  Unnecessary evil is broadcast into our homes, as the media controls so many of us who hang on to its every word.  Incited by bigots that are hiding in plain sight, we have lost the ability to distinguish between wrong and right.  Their hateful politics are the same ones future generations will condemn, unless the world continues on its fall from grace into mayhem.  Tricked into believing that democracy exists, the enlightened need to revolt to save us from this infernal abyss. Truth is such a rarity now, that it may as...

Your words were like pages torn from a novel and left out in the rain, without any context, they would never make sense again. Confusion was all around you, hurricanes followed you wherever you went, with blind faith, I saw right past it all and still claimed you as a friend. Eventually, it became too much to bear, you tried to break my spirit several times and expected me not to care. Rarely there when I needed you, where were you when I was destroyed? Stupidly, we would always reunite, like my integrity was just a toy. I wanted to slander you, hit you where it hurt, worsen your tarnished reputation, and drag you through the dirt. Instead, I chose to rise above; I know your wits are no match for my intellect. You already lead a simple life, filled with cocaine and regret. I thought that lightning never struck the same spot twice, but somehow I kept getting hit, because I ignored sound advice. You were a snake, and I was immune to your bites, like a city of sin, you l...

It was in the shivers, the tingles that started at my neck and ran up and down my spine; y our touch left me weak in the knees, my body electrified. My heart was on fire, I never knew desire like this. You could do the least and send my spirit soaring, it is so effortless. Our hands intertwined as we shared all our secrets, and made one another promise we would always keep it. We discussed philosophy, talked about fashion, and science, until we gave in to temptation, and decided to try it. I lead and you follow, chase me around in circles, bite my lip, never let go; come into my world. I could never resist you, I don’t ever wanna give you up, I’d be right next to you and still never feel close enough. The love between us was flowing, the passion always escalating, all you had to do was lick your lips and I was scintillated.  The vibe was always right, our connection was ethereal. Your kiss tasted better than Cinnamon Toast Crunch, my favourite ...

With my head no longer being held underwater by your ghost, I greedily fill my lungs with oxygen, now that I know what it feels like again to breathe. Held hostage for too long by love that refused to stay afloat. Shipwrecked heart of mine lay at the bottom of the sea, barely beating, broken by the change you brought about in me. Buried, like the treasure that we could’ve been, I wash my hands clean of this failed experiment. Tsunamis nor earthquakes could bring us ashore. Lost to time, forevermore. Until we resurface as a myth, for no one would believe a love like ours could exist. I woke up this morning and wrote your name in the sand. I've done that on every beach I've been on since I met you, but I'm never going to do it again. I'm ready to move on. This beach will be the last to know your name. Written carefully so each grain of sand would know our pain. My memories of you wash away with the rise and fall of the tide. As...

Each holy man there is, is convinced he's better than the next, as his right hand tightly clasps prayer beads, whilst he judges others with his left. Piety the reason that he wakes up every day, just to forget that only God can judge, even if someone is gay. Whether devoted to the gospel or in submission to the Muslim holy book, many of these zealots cannot be told apart from crooks. Their lies are so often inspired by an agenda that remains hidden amongst claims they will be forgiven for each slip, no matter how forbidden.   Living in the future, they are consumed with the afterlife, but it is so convenient to forget the rules every time they take another wife. These hypocrites misinterpret ancient words however they see fit, when the truth holds no advantage from which they could somehow profit. Wars have been fought over less than a few acres of land, both sides convinced the blood was spilled as part of their Go...