Betrayal

a Poem by Aylar Azizi

A grain of sand sits in my heart,

A fleck of light in the void of my body.

I am aware of its existence like the

Dim haze of Cancer’s stars in the night.

Ardent, I have learned to protect, to love

With every pulse, with every fluttering palpation,

This grain of sand to which I have devoted

Every second and every atom.

One day, I will forget the thrill

Of my secret discovery, my confidant, my companion,

This grain of sand.

And I will dismiss its boundless whispers,

And neglect its persistent tugs, its tireless nudges,

And refuse to recognize its feathery touch

Along the walls of my revived heart.

It will be no more than

A speck in the continuous flow of my blood,

How insignificant it is, I think, this fleck of light.

And in my fiery heart this grain will quiver and thrash,

Restless,

Ignored,

Forgotten,

Until the day it wedges itself

Into an artery,

Into a vein,

And my vessels constrict.

This time, the hero will not persevere.

In the black night will appear the hazy figure of

Heracles’ vanquished body.

Where there was once my pulsing heart,

There will be a hollow vacuum,

And in this endless space one will someday discover,

The unmistakable glint

Of a grain of sand.

About the Author

Regularly in the process of stitching together words, whether it be in her head or on paper, Aylar Azizi is a young writer who hopes to touch the hearts of her readers. She's passionate about languages and the beauty of different cultures, and looks forward to traveling (despite her invincible air-sickness).