my heart breaks for what breaks yours
everything I am falls apart with you
let me be your refuge and your strength
I will give you all of me for all my days
so long as you trust me with your heart

Just a cut
just a scratch
what’s that mark
it was just the cat
just an excuse
just another lie
what’s with the bracelets
just fashion why?
just a tear
just a scream
why were you crying
just a bad dream
But it’s not just a cut
or a tear
or a scream
it’s just one more
until it’s not
until you die

with his love I’m surely freed,
given a life beyond me.
he takes my pain, makes it his very own,
now bearing the weight at my side.
all I do, is for You, for the love, You give to me.
behold the man who loves me free.
I was dead now brought to life.
his love rescued me.
in the deepness of the nights,
he lays quiet at my side.
and when I’m bound with fear,
he reminds me that he is near.

Many kings there have been,
Many those who tried to leave their mark,
and thought that they left.
They were destroyed by nature and time,
in some years.
Nature and time, the real kings, they spare none.
Yet, the one who lives for others,
becomes a sweetheart of these kings...


© Manan sheel.

my eyes shot open and terror gripped my bones
I breathed heavily through my nose, eyes scanning my dark room.
with my chest heaving, my fingers fumbled for my phone;
with a click the brightness illuminated my face
quickly, I found your name but I hesitated,
fearful of disturbing you, bogging you down with my own horror.
but I had no other choice. at that time you were my only source of calm.
the dial rung one, two, three times and when you answered I felt relief.
hearing your voice my breath at last evened,
and my heart slowed.
you comforted me whispering I was okay and you were right there.
the gentleness found in your essence, I relaxed.
your quiet presence held me closely under the bend of tired vocal cords.
without any question you decided to stay with me
and as if I had come and crawled in beside you in your bed,
you planted a kiss on my head and wrapped me in your warm embrace.
soothing me you surfaced the calm within me
and there was no maybe in your commitment to stay.
hushing, quieting, lulling and rocking me to sleep
I felt your protection, I knew I was safe,
and the safety in your arms will never disappear.

medicine doesn't always come in the form of a capsule, powder or bitter tasting liquid. medicine isn't always hard to swallow or a pain to refill at the pharmacy, nor is it made by a chemist wearing a white coat and goggles. sometimes medicine is a heartfelt laugh from the person you love. it's a gentle whisper that everything is okay, a squeeze of the hand bringing reassurance and calm. medicine is a smile with eyes turned up in a grin. it's an hour of time spent in the park with kisses and conversation. it doesn't come with annoying side-effects of pounding headaches and dizziness with fatigue. instead it reaps results: healing of mind, body and soul.

To be selfless, to be loveless

They are similar
In that there is always less
Of something there once was

Less of self, less of love

I wanted to think of you more
So I thought of myself less

I wanted to love you more
So I loved myself less

You asked for more
So I wanted you less

And once again,
My love betrayed me.
He found one better,
One that filled his soul in ways that I could never.
She’s not broken like me,
But neither is she kind like me;
Or selfless like me;
Or caring like me either.
So, when he stares at her
In the same way he used to stare at me,
I hope he sees everything that she is not
As well as everything she is.
She may fill his soul in ways that I could never,
But she will never fill his soul like me.
She may be the one he chose,
But she will never be me.