Midnight 
An extra pillow for your lack 
A song pats my back 
I listen to the dark 
 
Boom 
Another missile – 
Hostages, memorials, protests  
The Holy Land vies 
Outside my safe room, people are pawns 
The Mediterranean Sea marries the sky  
Rocket alerts usurp messages 
Third degrees overrule dates 
Mars becomes home 
 
I waste on a firm mattress for the first time in fourteen months 
A sunken futon on a floor never allured so much 
A dirty hostel’s cramped dorm, or a stranger’s couch 
Highlights colored the past 
Now, the only life born in my sheets is poems  
Flashcards replace friends 
I study languages instead of folks 
 
If I could tempt back into your tempest 
And starve myself for another week abroad 
To walk more than I ate 
To see your face and hear your voice 
I am starting to forget your accent 
Every day, I remind myself of your guffaw 
Little effort is needed, even in a gathering 
Blind is the blade of my awe 
 
Clocks run late to your patience 
Hearts hammer to your passion 
Nuns blush at your reservedness 
Hot springs seethe at your warmth 
‘Tis but the tip of the iceberg 
Who are you? 
A bottom without a top 
You made my knees tremble 
And soothed me more than temple stays 
My map of your quirks is uncharted 
Your flaws, I could never loath 
 
Sunrise to sunset, coats to T-shirts 
East to West – at your behest – 
Turning, twisting, waiting 
For the harmony of your chaos 
Here or there, ever a foreigner 
The life of the party in the Far East 
Can’t notice the Middle East in a corner 
 
It wilts me that you bloom in my leave 
My oasis is a drought 
You bask in someone else’s shade 
Sour is the seed of empathy you plant in my throat 
Fever dreams steam wonder 
Are you lonely? 
When you’re with him 
Do you need me? Are you happy? 
Talking to the Wailing Wall 
What if you choked on a nut? 
What if I no longer over-thought – 
We wouldn’t even hear 
You wouldn’t even mourn 
 
With the heat of a pillow against my chest  
Curled up, afraid 
That we’ll never exchange another word  
I speak; you react 
In your own singular way 
Empires rise and fall. Our lips hang 
“Yes –” 
“Yes –” 
“No” 
 
I can’t do this, can’t concentrate  
Till I confessed my love, which you taught 
A torch in the dark can’t extinguish its flame  
Where does your wind blow? 
In this maze of mixed signals  
Every turn leads to a close  
If I found your opening 
I would tell you one, three, five – words –  
 
I’m losing a game I never wanted to play 
I turn right, you’re left –  
Dead end. Hide-and-seek, your tongue-in-cheek 
I’m lost 
 
In the darkness of a pit, realization dawns 
For the first time in my life 
Too late to rejoice 
From the start, it was uneven 
You liked. I adored 
 
So if I wished you were miserable 
Would that alienate you even more? 
How dare you smile in my absence 
Walk this Earth and not recall 
It drives me mad to know 
That your life goes on 
That you don’t think about me at all – 
 
Midnight 
An extra pillow for your lack 
A song pats my back 
I can’t escape my thoughts 
 
Time to hibernate