In honour of Shark Week, a poem I wrote last year.

SHARK

I was never in love with you.
Quick transition from flirtations to the words,
bound by our silliness,
I thought didn't matter.
I threw all your shit away except for this.
The struggles that much more,
'cause you'd never let me look you in the eye.
You lived with constant fear.
Self-fooled, so did I.
Shoved over to escape
not realising I'd packed it safely anyway.
I wanted to be - & really, I am -
international flights with cute meals
& handsome gift packs of
designer toothpaste, earplugs & masks.
You were a bent bicycle frame
wobbling to & fro, too slowly, uphill.
We were both awaiting the shark attack,
but you failed to recognize
that I was the shark.

♥ Ali