Who but a trafficker of hearts
would lay bare the body
before those who know not
the worth of touch?
Tell me—
Are tender, trembling moments
meant for everyone,
or, only for the rare ones
who arrive with reverence in their hands?
Delicate decency in their hearts?
There are artisans of affection
who sell the soul so cheaply,
Bartering emotions in crowded markets,
Settling accounts of longing
as if love were bitcoins and registrars.
But, when every transaction is closed,
Who then reckons the debt of touch?
Who remains spread across the chambers of the heart,
and who slips away like dust in wind out of sight?
Who are in and out of mind?!
Whom the soul forgets?!
Is the heart so easy to possess?
If a soul could be won
merely in exchange for skin and closeness,
Then this world would hold
not a single forsaken lover,
Not one wretched heart
left starving at the gates of love.
Burnt in the fire of love ruthlessly,
In desire of mercy dissolving pride.
©® Farheen Akter Bhuian Nancy
Timestamp: 12.12 am, Tagar