Literature The Love Issue

Poem: Life’s Embrace

“Being in love with life betrayed me”

By Anas Al Balushi

Being in love with life betrayed me 

I was the lion, overly protected

I was the victim of the hyenas’ laughs

For ten years

In the last two, I became the mountain

Thunderous clouds surrounded me      

Yet I never flinched 

I never moved

Not even to where I wanted to

Then, I was admitted into the holy land

With promises 

With proud smiles

For their promises I have paid

Most of what I had saved 

In four months, it was all to be returned

Now, more than five years passed

And my pocket is empty 

As empty as my soul

Each day marks a fight between them 

Each night for me is the hell everyone hears about

But never saw 

Each struggle I fought alone

Not the lion I took myself to be

Not the mountain I strived to be

Alone

I am the hollow trunk

Of a solid tree

Many are around me in the forests of life

But no one is with me 

Still, I love them

I love  life 

It is just that

In our embrace

Life stabs my back


Anas Al Balushi is an emerging poet from Oman. He was among the winners of the 2019 PennedThoughts Creative Writing Award. His interests vary between philosophy, literature and psychology.

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