"To You" By Parizoda Axrorqulova ('24)

tell me have you ever loved

tell me was dawn floating in your house

were the pigeons circling overhead

was it your brightest minute in the world

tell me did winter storm sing in your bedroom

did you read your poems to it

and did you look for a friend in every sight

what is the cure for longing

have you ever stood at the train station

inhaling the complex smell of trains

and did it seem to you that you were in the coma

leaving out of breath

say have you ever cried

sobbing with bitter happiness in the morning

and giving your soul to tissues

to the editors and maniacs of the pen

have you hoped for God's will

and in autumn did you fly with leaves into the light

and did you bless your slice of food

when love betrays

and no more hope left

have you humbled a strict pride

by trying to overcome your paths

have you loved so much that even the name

was painful for you to say out loud

and if you are even a little familiar

mistakes ripples my crazy hands

then this is for you i wrote all my poems

and not for another