Will I fall asleep or stay awake?
Will I smile or weep?
Will I remember or forget?
Will I pet the pain or let it go?
Will I connect the dots or alienate them?
Will I embrace or break the brace?
Will I mend the wall as “good walls make good neighbours”
Or leave it broken for things to haunt?
The woman wonders
The woman wonders
Because
In life or death
In love or hatred
In light or darkness
In the home or diaspora
Whoever she seeks to hold dear
The clasping string is hurt and cut
Whoever she takes to be her pal
The lovely lace is worn and torn
A brother opens the oyster sore
A lover uncovers the reefed past
A partner reveals the cavernous deal
A relative unearths the cavitied vessels
which stabs… stabs… stabs her ruthlessly… ruthlessly… ruthlessly
Pains break us open to let the light enter
Rumi says and plays with the woman’s soul
Like Coolangatta waves play with the dead snails.
Umme Salma, Toowong, May 2016.
Salma Seclusion 