by Unzeela Manzoor
i fold my world into half
with you in the middle
​
when it unfolds, everything around you is symmetrical
and my symmetrical world demands that you take it in in equal halves
because what is left is just as important as what was right.
​
at least to me
to you, the display of my hopes and jokes
are more fascinating
than the elaborate exhibitions of my failings and fears
​
you stare at fountains of pride longer
and visit the landscapes of dreams more often
than you wander in forests of guilt.
​
your sight falls
like snow
it is soft but intrusive
threatening and cold –
i have not yet learned how to welcome invasion
​
so i fold my world again to keep it safe from wrinkles
left and right become one again
and there is just you – the determined
the center,
the asymmetrical,
the unbendable half
Unzeela Manzoor is a seventeen-year-old A-Level student from Lahore, hoping to pursue a degree in Political Science soon.