Hamartia for All Ages by Fatima Azeem

 Hamartia for All Ages

by Fatima Azeem

I think you left a fingerprint on my heart. When it’s inspected, do you think I’ll be able to track you down? Don’t leave evidence where hurt is committed, sometimes it leads you into an ocean of enemies. The thing is, after you leave, it gets easier to breathe; still, I find your presence much more worth it. This is kind of unpredictable and down-right chaotic. I feel as though maybe I’ll end up finding myself surrounded by water, standing lone on a rock that is still and slow. Through you, I will embrace the paradox of being calm, so much so, that when the water reaches my lips, I will not know. The waterline will trail up my eyelids and behind them I will see the culprit, the one who forgetfully touched my soul and never came back to remove themselves from my memory. The blue will wash over me and ripples of light will shine against the sky or maybe the ocean or maybe my hands, I don’t know. The water will spiral and take me with it and the salt will stain my teeth as I try to speak, but it won’t matter because I know you understand what I want. You know because you struck yourself deep into my pores and I remember that this doesn’t matter either; one day I will be alone and you will forget me and I will forget and my name will not be known. This is supposed to be the part where I will miss you and then everything cuts to black. This is burning and something else. Passion? Regret? Embarrassment? I wouldn’t have noticed, but would you have seen me from a thousand miles away? Maybe I was born for something else, someone else, and now I’ll never know.