when i ask who’s loving you?
don’t want no names, no
no location or proximity,
no train station meet-cute or dating app eye emoji
i’m really asking “how does it feel?”
receiving a love not as eclipsing,
i’m asking how clear is the rain
on the other side?
when the tune of the hour dissolves
house parties turn into webbed limbs
i’ve seen you wide-armed, shifting space
between snake charmers and wilted butterflies
i wonder if you knew i could do that too?
that in theory (if only just for you)
i am capable the way a cat is
slink without reason, entering lives as we please
just enough teeth to leave a mark
on the thick of my tongue i want to ask
what animal are they?
those who loved you so quietly
that nobody knew
i am still collecting questions
headphones filled with half-
recordings, how the one time
you said my name / sweet as silence
made me vow never to wipe a device again
now, i am questioning who loves you
out loud, between mistakes and fajr
with no reply
and no damage to my spirit
Hibaq Osman is a UK based Somali artist whose main work has been in poetry. Hibaq was first published in 2015 by Out-Spoken Press with her debut pamphlet A Silence You Can Carry. In 2017 and 2019 she released two online pamphlets, the heart is a smashed bulb and CARVINGS. Her first full poetry collection where the memory was was published by Jacaranda Books as a part of their #Twentyin2020 initiative. She is a proud member of OCTAVIA POETRY COLLECTIVE.
