Melancholia of The Heart: My Darling, I am On Fire

How can you live and leave 
in a breath as the door closes

               I too am broken 
               red upon tongues of red. 

If you dream of water 
of your portrait as the wound 
that is also a house 

If Hell is lost, I will not disappear 

We will go to cafes 

and read each other quietly 
to survive, 

and I will remember 
you not with my eyes but with the passing
of silence between two flames.

It is the first day of your life 
as my imminent bruise, 

I who has dreamt 
of escape, who with a flash in my throat has swallowed 
my own life like a roll of film

white like the sun 
touching me to touch you with my 
shadow, and I am brought back

I am made of doors, and doors upon doors, 
upon the blackness after them, 

once, I have forgotten 
your silence 
is a language of its own. 

Rome Smaoui is a Tunisian poet and writer. Her work has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Sonder Midwest, The Roadrunner Review, and other places. Her writing has been recognized by the Scholastics Art & Writing Awards, and the 2019 Faulkner Wisdom Competition. In 2021, she was featured in Narrative Magazine’s 30 Under 30 List. She is currently completing her undergraduate studies in Literature & Creative Writing at The University of Manchester.