2023 Poem by Anisa Tara

The year is 2023
Where I'm at is a country of ignorance
I crawl back to unknowable sadness
After a long day of not knowing myself

Sometimes I still hold my hands
To remember what a hand held is
Then I take myself down alleys
Up mountains and through hotel rooms

Pretend I've never loved
And that this is the first time
I'll hear a man say he wants me
Feel his tenderness
In this country of sadness

But it never happens
Because some people love
And never return from its night
Never recover from its sickness
I'm a shadow in the country
I've moved to
When all my bones
Remain in the country of you
All my years of living
Was spent with you
Life was living with you