To abandoned bodies and homes

Sidra. Amin.
Nov 5 · 2 min read

Whenever I look at bougainvillea, I sense melancholy in them. They look like they're home yet they're homeless. They're always here, around us, and still they're invisible to our eyes.

I feel like we are all like bougainvilleas. We have so much of color in us, but we are an epitome of a shattered place that has endured centuries and centuries of storms and rains and scorching heat. We have let spring and autumn color us. We have let the dust paint itself over us. We have allowed mites to feed on our backbones for years and yet we stand, in all hues, but invisible. We know we might turn into debris any moment, we are still a shelter to so many homeless souls. Being someone's safe haven doesn't require us to have strong walls. We are an aftershock away from falling apart, and we still offer a support to so many.

I usually think about us, about how we have let loneliness nurture itself into each and every room of us, how we have allowed the wailing of a betrayed love haunt every corner of us.

People imagine us to have the eerie aura. They think we are dark, even if our outsides are a canvas of happy faces. But they don't realize that the darkness is harvested everyday by living, breathing people. It is them that turn us into a graveyard of living, abandoned bodies from a ball where wine was once spilled and love was made under mistletoe.

But what matters is that we stand, even if we are alone, even if we let time and betrayal haunt us, even if the bougainvillea on our walls have their colors fading. We stand firm. We always will, unless an aftershock hits us. And I know that if it does, we will happily crash into earth.

    Sidra. Amin.

    Written by

    Writing to make up for the urge to speak meaningful things every minute of my life. I find peace in empowering writers. Not your ave booknerd.

    Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
    Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
    Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade