By Owranoos Suljuki

Contributor 

You find me delightful

as if I am obliged to be a delight

for you.

That the sole reason

for my existence

is to be your pleasure.

I am not another land that you can discover

and expect to own.

Just because you have happened

upon it

does not mean it owes itself

to you.

All for you.

You cannot drink my blood

the way you have drank the blood of my country.

Ah yes! What a delight I am!

I have been waiting patiently for another foreigner

to taste me.

Come! Drink my skin and feast upon my face!

For I do not know my own beauty and strength.

For I do not know the jewels inside my skin

and the laughter that echoes through the mountains.

I am a mine of gold.

A river of lapis.

And I would rather

cave in on myself

than let you in.

I am not another land you can ravage.