BAD HABITS

She said love is like gambling

and she always loses.

She said it’s a bad habit

that she does not dare give up.

She said she’s afraid of light

even though the light she’s spent was

not little

She’s content with her solitude

and she does not care for

companionship.

Still she falls from her cloud

whenever rain guides her to her land.

She said she’s ro bust but futile

and gentle despite herself.

Still she feigns roughness

because affection like love

is a bad habit

and so is silence

which she’ll never quit.

She said she’s bored

not even good enough for sleep

but she sleeps to remain like a fetus

drowned in the waters of oblivion.

She says she’s a tired woman

bleeding from her wound

wishing to never heal.

She said she’s loser by nature,

a loser so that she’ll deserve her

victory.

She said at last that life is a bad habit

which she hopes to maintain

with a little bit of will power

and a great deal of forgetfulness.

| Joumana Haddad |