Three Poems: Song of Solomon, Perpetuity, and Is It Better to Speak or to Die?

Song of Solomon

Give me an assurance of your presence

And a heart with a lingering feeling

Give me your fear and the sparkle in your eyes

Fill my stomach with a swarm of butterflies

Let your tears fall on my shoulder

Leave me with a stamp of your love

So the world can know of the feelings I find

And so I can profess like the Shulamite

That I am my beloved’s

And my beloved is mine

Perpetuity

I’m running away from the sins of my past

Or maybe I’m running from my fear of the dark

I’m running and running from perpetual endings

I’m running while thinking of the things that are chasing

It may be my pride or my shame or my lies

Maybe the chaser wants a part of my life

Maybe it’s the things of which I fear at night

Sometimes I think it’s the voices inside

And some part of me wants to look back to check

To see if it’s something that was never my debt

For I fear I’ve been running all along and away

I fear I am running for my mother’s mistakes

Is it better to speak or to die?

Is it better to speak or to die?

For all I know, I have swallowed my thoughts

My silence knows what I do not say

My pursed lips feel every word of dismay

My heart will touch my unsaid thoughts

My soul will heal my burning mouth

Is it better to speak or to die?

And I will die for all along my silence,

My lips, my heart, and my soul

Have spoken volumes of my mind

Sofia is a current student of finance at the University of Glasgow. As an upcoming and aspiring poet, she has been writing since she was little. She specializes in genres of melancholy, romance, nostalgia and grief. Although poetry is her niche, she also writes essays and has even secured an Honorary Mention in the Trust for Sustainable Living International School Essay in 2024 on the topic “How can nature help us achieve the UN SDGs in my community?”

Featured image by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash.