On the Last Day We Spent Together
Fareh Malik
It would have been me counting the army of indented blades of grass that once held your form. Me, carving your name into the palm of my hands and pressing your scarlet initials into tree trunks. I would have played your laugh on my iPod like my favourite album, and painted your smile into my eyelids. I would have held you much harder than you would expect like a newborn does a finger. Al Green would be playing on the jukebox. I would have swam in my mind and tied every one of my neurons together; I would have crafted them into a safe just to keep our memories impregnable. I think I could have loved you forever. I think I could have given you a warmth that would have made the sun jealous. I would have built you a spaceship. I heard that Venus rotates so slowly that I could hold your hand, and we could walk forever into a sunset. I could have wrung this skin dry and made coffee from your last touch; it would have kept us awake long enough to forget that eternity doesn’t always come with a lifetime guarantee. I know that- and I know you had to leave. I just wish I could have loved you a little while longer.
Fareh Malik is a BIPOC man from Toronto, Canada, as well as a seasoned spoken word artist and emerging written poet. The winner of Muslim Hands Canada's 2020 Poetry Contest, Fareh's debut book, 'Streams That Lead Somewhere,' is currently being completed. Fareh's individual works have been published by literary presses such as Waccamaw Journal, 86 Logic, Open Minds, Dots, Twyckenham Notes, Lucky Jefferson, and many others. Fareh's work has also been featured in several anthologies. His work is currently on exhibit in the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. He loves to tell the story of his struggle, and of people around him, in the hope others can find inspiration and companionship in it. Fareh is currently a freelance poet and writer, working on his collection.