Saima Afreen
A Polka Dot Umbrella
For Velma the stranger who gave me her umbrella on a rainy evening in Helsinki
You
Black Rose
Inverted
In war with the sky
Bloom above my body
My personal ceiling.
Answering Thor and wind
We hold each other against
The war of water. Your thin handle shakes
The liquid lines and spills the universe.
Silver eclipse. Cobblestone streets move
With my boots. The divided history.
Maple leaves draw sketches
Wet. Set on fire. Enemy-ally of water.
You
Hold strong, pierce the wind
And sometimes try to fly
To answer the sky
As a pointed question
As the proof of an existential error.