I Didn’t Realize You Were a Poem

I didn’t realize you were a poem

I didn’t realize
That I could unravel your layers
With every line
That I could write you and re-write you
And you were always so forgiving
That I could mold you to my liking
And sometimes, you’d mold me to yours

I didn’t realize
That I could share you with the world
And still claim you as my own
I didn’t realize
How you so easily eased my sorrows
Just by being
That you came to define
A big part of who I am

I didn’t realize
That you enabled me to speak through silence
To see through the blind folds
To feel through the numbness

I didn’t realize
That you filled me with peace
That you helped me through today
So I could look forward to tomorrow
Propelled and not held back by yesterday

No, I didn’t realize that you were a poem.

I didn’t realize
You would sing the songs of my heart
That you could fine tune the lyrics of my soul
That you would hum the beats of my inner drums

I didn’t realize
That you could keep me grounded
That you could capture my dreams in flight
Without preventing them from flying

I didn’t realize
That you could be
Both teacher and pupil
Both pen and paper
Both earth and sky
That you could contain and liberate at the same time

No, I didn’t realize that you were a poem.

©Nebila Abdulmelik, September 2011