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Symmetrical

UNZEELA MANZOOR

Illustration by Kimberly Laura Walker

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.

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