I stand,
in the shadow of laughter,
hidden among the corners,
where the noise fades into a hum,
where the lights burn too bright for my eyes.
I am the one who watches,
the one who doesn’t know how to enter,
how to fold myself into this living dance,
so, I linger—
like a stranger caught between worlds,
too far to reach,
too close to disappear.
The walls speak their language,
a chorus of familiar names,
and I,
with my foreign skin,
my hands clenched tight
around the words I never learned,
am nothing but a flicker at the edge,
a ripple unseen in the crowd.
I am the intruder,
the half-formed thought,
the space between breaths—
always at the threshold,
never crossing over.
I stand with the weight of not belonging,
but also, with the secret thrill
of being invisible,
of seeing without being seen,
of holding the room in my silence
and knowing it doesn’t need me
to fill its air.
And still,
I stand— a wallflower,
uninvited,
yet somehow, still here.
Photo credits: Pinterest
For dVerse Poetics where Dora invites us to use a type of margin as a springboard for our poems 🩷
Posted for Poetics: Diving into the Margins @dVerse Poets Pub
34 Responses
love the two images of being unseen and seeing everything, to be outside as a wallflower is really a powerful image…
Absolutely! Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I am familiar with the ‘margins of a wallflower’, Sanaa, and love the way your poem hides ‘among the corners, where the noise fades into a hum’ and lingers ‘like a stranger caught between worlds’, ‘nothing but a flicker at the edge, a ripple unseen in the crowd’. There is a hint of pensive sadness in this poem.
Thank you so much, my dearest Kim 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Just reading these words sensitizes me to the feelings they describe so eloquently, so delicately too, as “the lights burn too bright for my eyes,” “to fold myself into this living dance,” “a flicker at the edge,
a ripple unseen in the crowd,” “the half-formed thought,
the space between breaths— ” and “holding the room in my silence
and knowing it doesn’t need me
to fill its air.” That last bit of imagery is such a perfect and unique description, Sanaa, so distinctive and therefore memorable. I hardly know why but it affected me deeply.
Awww gosh! Thank you so much, Dora 😀 I am glad to know that you were deeply touched by the poem 💄❤️
(and thank you for the lovely prompt) 🥂
Nice lne!!!
Much♡love
❤️❤️❤️
takes me back to my school discos as a wallflower.
stunning
Thank you so much, Rog 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Sanaa, you are describing me. Here but not here. Powerful!
Thank you so much, Nolcha 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Such exquisite, attractive verse here always, how you create a scenario and imbue it with presence, full of atmosphere. Wonderful.
Thank you so much, Ain 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
So beautifully crafted ~~ “I linger like a stranger caught between worlds, too far to reach, too close to disappear” ~~ sigh.
Thank you so much, my dearest Helen 😍 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
There’s a margin between inner and outer worlds and it’s eloquently presented here. “Always at the threshold, never crossing over.” And yet both. Lovely work.
Thank you so much, Brendan 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄❤️
I think what strikes me the most, besides your gorgeous, evocative, skillful word smithing…is how you managed to give the wallflower a super power, “with the secret thrill of being invisible, of seeing without being seen”
There are some strengths and advantages in the margin, as painful a space it can be sometimes.
Thank you so much, Mish 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Wonderfully written, Sanaa. I love your images of being on the fringes yet enjoying being unseen. This would make a great subject for a palinode!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Hi Sanaa, this is powerful and beautifully written. I think old people also feel like this. Hugs.
Thank you so much, Robbie 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Your poem really captures that sense of voyeurism that reading allows us to enjoy. We are safely living so many lives.v
Thank you so much, Katie 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄❤️
You described so well! All introverts can relate to this, especially the lines about not able to speak and words stuck like lump in throat.
Thank you so much, Mrityunjay 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Sanaa, loved everything, and how you related the whole to that phrase – a half-formed thought – was especially my fav part..
Thank you so much, Vidya 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Being unseen and seeing everything is quite an image. Lovely poem, Sanaa!
Thank you so much, Sara 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Your beautiful words deeply resonated, Sanaa. An exquisitely insightful verse.💗💗
Thank you so much, my dear Punam 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️