14th October 2020

You asked me if you looked pretty,
This was yesterday;
I said, "Yes,"
Bewildered by the question.

Today I asked if it was the headscarf
I was supposed to have noticed yesterday,
Still bewildered by it.

You laughed and said,"What, still obsessed by it
For the last forty-eight hours?"
Although in not so many words.

Therefore, I have sworn, with upheld hand,
That for the next forty-eight years, not hours,
You will not see my face again,
At least not a face that looks at you
As it once did in better times.

I will take no interest in whether you live or die,
Marry or have children,
Grow old and ugly or whatever,
For the next forty-eight years.

Only then will you know who I am;
Only then will you know when I love someone,
I do so with all my heart,
And when I hate someone,
I do so wholeheartedly as well.

Away from me, you whose venom
Was like that of a poisonous snake;
Never again will you stab my heart
With that needle-sharp tongue of yours
For the next forty-eight years,
So help me God.