The Queen He Couldn't Claim Poem by Irfan Habeeb A M K

She moved like light in the cold halls,
a quiet storm, a fire soft enough to hold.
The castle breathed her name—
Lyra.
He stood in shadows,
armor heavy, words heavier.
A knight without a crown,
watching her walk through his silence.
Once, her eyes met his—
fleeting, like rain touching stone.
"Your name? " she asked,
and his voice, unused to speaking to stars,
whispered, "Calen."
She smiled,
and the world shifted.
Time wore paths between them,
small glances, stolen moments.
Her hand brushed his one evening,
soft as an unanswered prayer.
"Do you feel this? " she asked,
her fingers resting in his palm.
"Yes, " he said,
but he knew this wasn't his to keep.
Her voice was quiet, steady.
"I am bound to crowns,
to duties bigger than dreams."
He nodded,
though something in him cracked.
The day she wore the crown,
he stood in the back,
where shadows hid broken things.
Their eyes met—
just a flicker,
just enough.
And so he stayed.
She ruled.
He watched.
She was the queen,
but not his.
Still, he loved her,
in the spaces between words,
in the quiet after the world went still.
And though he could never claim her,
he guarded her with his life—
a love he would never name.