Kash Baloch — Poetry on Identity, Love, and Survival

Once, when we were young,  we fell head over heels in love; felt like we'd been stung, razors rained down o n us from up above. Oh how it hurts my lungs,  once we were innocent as doves I numb the pain with drugs,  now that I have been disposed of. As we argued more,  push turned to shove,  Now you've gone missing, babe.  Take me back to yesterday. Stopped by your place,  but you've left for outer space,  linger at your door,  but you don't live here anymore.  It's years since you've been there.  And now you've disappeared  somewhere; without a trace. I'm lost without your sweet embrace. And I miss you, yeah, like infants miss their mother's face. And I miss you, whoa, you've left a mark I can't erase. I just miss you, oh, like a shoe without a lace, I'm missing you, baby, this emptiness won't be replaced. I rang down your phone,  so many times I cannot count, your number is unknown,...

A paper boat wrestles with restless seas to stay afloat, as  amber sun collides with cotton, cobalt-coloured clouds.  Bruises decorate my blackened, battered soul, soon even sanity slips away unseen, into some careless crowd. Caught in the rapturous aftermath of hope, this reckoning is one I'd rather skip. Bind my idle hands with rope, next stitch up my damaged lips. B utton up these barren eyes, before they believe another lie. Malevolent magnets pull me in opposite directions,  this tug of war romance won't be won with weapons.  Heaven has to wait for me to revert to being holy,  as eraser smudges have replaced all remnants of the old me. This haphazard, hollow heartbeat has become a battle drum,  it sets the season for my sorrow, and the tempo for my gloom.  Grief, just like a paring knife, carves up my insides,  cutting away the only parts of me that I ever liked. Anger erupts inside of me until I burst then tear apart at the seams; as ...

You tear me down, I feel so weak. It's hide and seek, hide and seek. Scotch tape mouth so I can't speak, pour me a glass of something sweet, like gasoline, gasoline. I wanna call myself an ambulance, cos I can't swim, can barely dance. My vision blurs, I'm in a trance. Lost any chance for romance; just resistance, and violence. Heart's locked up, its wrists are chained; the consequence of losing grace. Our love's a refugee on the run  all out of chase, feeling displaced. Matchboxes and misery litter my home, now that you've gone, left me alone. I would rather endure your abuse than the emptiness within these halls. Cancer coloured corridors that make me sick, I cough then catch my breath, and take a sip, as red wine stains my restless soul. You close your eyes, and count to three, I cover my own but leave a little space,  so I can see you search for me,  through the mess, amongst the waste. If only we could find the words to say, we could both win at this ga...

A thorny kiss, that  pricked like tetanus.  Your touch left papercuts no alcohol could remedy, fragrant  to smell yet poison to me,  you were the infection that led to disease.  I may be your cancer, but I am also your man,  so take back these seeds, bury them in the sand. Not weak, but naive, and blissfully aware, fake smiling my way through every affair. I am the reason, and all that remains.  You are the bleach; the iodine that stains.  Like ink, you left your mark through roses, especially when they'd wilt, so I swallowed my pride in spite of my guilt;  pluck each of my petals as I slowly decay; I return to the soil as I drift away.

Heart racing faster than a sprinter, as I prick you like a splinter.  I'll make you blossom like the cherry tree does after a long winter, then explore your oceans like Cousteau's possessed my fingers.  I am the summer sun that overwhelms your city with heat,  you are the sugar on my tongue that has me craving sweets.  As we mix together like cement before it paves the streets, you'll declare me king in the north before we even complete.