Jeddah Writing Club- A poem on Distance

Jeddah Writing Club met today for its third meeting, at the cute Layla's Gourmet cafe, very girly and perfect spot for the club to meet- except I for some reason got lost and had trouble finding it.

Its lovely hearing everyone's take on a topic. This time it was 'distance' and when I'd first heard of it-I was thrilled- oh what a wonderful topic. But when I sat down to write on it I was overwhelmed. Although I have a lot of experience of having family and friends move away, I didn't want to  actually write about something so personal to me- isn't it strange? They say you should what you know- but it is very difficult for me to open up like that- I write as an outlet of my daydreams and imagination- to exercise my mind, to let out stuff good or bad that lives in the corners of mind -to stay sane!

We have a few extremely talented poets, and they inspired me to try to write a poem for the first time since leaving school... hope you like it.

Long distance

This is not farewell but goodbye,

Promises made amid forlorn sighs.

Long hugs and held back tears,

Reassurances to allay unsaid fears,

Wet pillows and long cold nights,

Photograph held on tight,

What’s app and video Skype,

Do you feel what I cannot type?

New names and incidents,

Funny stories- repeated often.

One too many forgotten Skype dates,

You’re either busy or it’s too late.

Draining phone calls- fights or silence,

Minor things coloured by distance.

Weak connection- no sight just hollow sound,

Jealous doubts- are they unfound?

Unanswered questions fuelling frustration,

Pleading forgiveness  in clingy desperation.

Single text received after repeated calls

Sorry, can’t do this...farewell.