Art by Farida Haque acrylic on canvas

LEAVING SINGHARAJA

~timeless primordiality of a rainforest~

Light changed

— from crystal iris water of a rare marble

in which sloping skies had whirled all day —

to muffled blue, wet slate. Under black thunder seeped my

senses into emerald canopies —

and shimmering in a timeless primordiality,

just there, strong and phosphorescent

breathed the rainforest.

When do we catch ourselves sobbing whilst asleep

when does the mantle of reality descend,

where does the line blur between joy and grief?

I did not cry, I wanted to. Instead

with my eyes, I tore off

a piece of that unbearable

viridian and left behind, in its place

under a small red dolmen

an effigy of my humble soul.

Farida Haque