Love Poem: A cup of longing
Saeed Koushan Avatar
Written by: Saeed Koushan

A cup of longing

I must grow used to longing
for your absent face—
with weeping eyes,
accustomed to the ache.

My cup lies empty now.
From this moment on,
I shall fill it only with regret.

Though I am far from you,
whenever I close my eyes,
you appear—
seen by the heart,
called by a hundred whispered prayers.

Where is the one who,
in the night of parting,
sighs into the breaking dawn?
Where is the one
who kisses each drop
of your weeping?

I am weary of this world,
of fortune—deaf and cruel—
that hears not my cries,
nor brings a single word of you.

Why do these silent tears
never end?
I only wish to speak with you,
for one moment—
of a sweeter ending to our story.

One night,
I must cast this cup of longing
to the ground—
let it shatter,
or let it shatter me,
and end this aching solitude.

One day, I will come to you
unannounced,
like a bird
with broken wings.

You—
you are where my heart turns,
fairer than the moon.

Each breeze that passes,
I search for your scent—
hoping it may carry
a balm
for the raw wound
of my yearning.