Unconventional Love Poem by Mariam de Haan

The night sky glitters outside the plane window
I would send you a picture
But things like these are only meant for our eyes.
In that night sky the terrorist told the freedom fighter,
Let me bathe amongst the stars with you
There in the darkness of my heart I’ll wait for you
We’ll dot the word of our Lord in Pali, Arabic, Hebrew and Sanskrit.
I’ll wait for you to lighten this darkness
With your love and co-existence.
But it was too late
The sun blasted into the sky
The way bombs blast the homeland
The terrorist cheated on the freedom fighter with the suicide bomber
Just as definitions cheat on our mind
Creating a blinding blur.

And of course we know about definitions
Students always read the words of others
Regurgitating their knowledge
Until we ask who am I?
What will I be in future?
This future that has become our distant lover
We tell her
Darling don’t be jealous of the words
They are but symbols that educate me
Caress me, soothe me
I’ve spent my whole life with them
They’ve even taken my virginity
But wait sweetheart, let me finish my degree
I’ll come to you eventually.
I’ll dive in your treasure of employment.
I’ll foreplay in your game of life.

In this game governments hold on to their weapons
Like a father holding the hand of his child
A young boy who tells everyone
My father is superman
Nothing can bring him down
He fights for freedom.
Until one day he sees a red dot on him
He screams and watches
The bullets speed through his chest
The bombs scatter his limbs
The news will say ‘today another insurgent/terrorist was killed’.
What they don’t know is
Violence gave birth to another.
That boy collects his father’s limbs
Which held immeasurable love
A love that silenced bombs
A love that turned sadness to happiness.
Now all he has is a grave and hatred
He swears ‘I will avenge you father’
And points a finger to the night sky.