DARK ROOM

(I wanted, in the darkness,

to paint the perfect shade of dark,

but I lacked the light

to see what I had painted.)

I was so happy at the sight of your smile.

I kept thinking of ways to reach your happiness.

I wanted to warm all your sorrows,

because I knew what it meant to live with pain.

I wanted to embrace the child

who had lived in a dark room.

I wanted to paint a window

through which you could escape.

I wanted you to fly.

I still want that.

But I realize

that I, too, was once a child.

Anja Sekulić, Serbia