Sofia by Safa Alhassan

February 05, 2025

Sofia by Safa Alhassan

SOFIA

Poems

SAFA ALHASSAN

CONTENTS

Slowly, Slowly

Sofia

As Deep As...

Babe, hi

Silence

Iyawo Amed

Cactus

Author's Note

Sofia /soh-FEE-uh/

noun

Meaning: Wisdom

Sofia is an expression of intense feelings boiling in the heart of the beloved. I feel like love is the most beautiful thing in the world. Everything good grows from healthy love. It is even most fulfilling when you share it with those deserving. It is very quiet but when you feel it, there is no denying as there is nothing close enough to resemble it. What's the use of half hearted love when your heart is as big as the world itself? So when you love, love deeply, kindly, carefully and genuinely.

Slowly, Slowly

I love you

Slowly, slowly

Just like lazy raindrops from rusted corrugated roofs.

Drifting, falling, with nowhere else to be,

Knowing the earth will drink them whole.

Words escape me my beloved

I deserve it

For how can I love

Slowly, slowly

When you're my heart, my life, my soul?

Tell me, do you hear my whispers?

Do you know my innermost thoughts?

I am ashamed, I am cruel.

My tears are dropping like thunderbolts

My pillow is soiled in the storm of my fear

I love you

In my quiet manners

I love you

Like the hush before the first kiss

Like the hurt burrowed and hidden

Like the promise of rain before it spills

Like the depth of my blue dress long nights gone

Slowly, slowly

Sofia

Yesterday I thought of you

Sofia the sweetness that lingers

Today i am singing of you

Sofia a name I hereby call you.

Lullaby that soothes yet questions

Honey, sugar, sweet Sofia

But when will I see you Sofia?

Where do you wander at dusk?

Do you dine with the stars?

Does the moon know your name?

Come, let me hold you close to my bossom

Come, let me hear the stories you carry

Are you dusk or are you dawn?

Are you here or are you my song?

A complete sentence

Just if, what if?

I am scared

I have doubts

I am flawed

You've completely enveloped me

I am you, and you are me

We move in synch

We love in unison

I am deep, deep waters

I am air, free

I am flawed

I am you

But if I unravel, will you still choose me?

If my edges crumble, will you hold me gently?

If I speak my truth, will you still kiss me?

If I drown in my thoughts, will you pull me back?

I am quiet storms

I am dim light

I am gentle love

I am fierce

And still, I am you

As deep as...

My eyes are long on the road for your departure

My eyes are long on the road for your arrival

Do not mistake my sick heart for weakness

My love is as the dark abyss of the ocean floor.

I want to behold your eyes to plant my longing

My body is frail please don't leave me

Do not mistake my silence for distance

My love is as deep as...

My love is the unspoken truths we carry

Each breath I take is a prayer for you

Each thought a whisper calling you home

You are the horizon I chase

A dream I wake for, night and day

Like the spaces between heartbeats, I wait

Like the silence in silence, I wait

And when you return, it will not be enough

For my love for you has no end

It is the boundless ocean

It is the endless sky

Babe, hi

Babe,

My soul is humming a melody

Of genuine feelings sworn long before

Love old as time itself

Love pure, sweet yet sore

Babe,

It's me again, hi

I bought a book today

Pink as candy, a colour happy

See, i'm writing again in bloodied ink

My heart now flooded with words

Babe,

Wait, look, here, hi

Do you know pineapples, a mystery?

Yellow, orange, green, fleshy

Who would have thought

They seem so happy

Babe,

Babe, babe, babe

I love you

Tell me, are you happy?

Silence

There is a stillness in silence

There is silence before silence

It is thin and light, very visible

It is loud and possessive, very pompous

It takes up space, brags with thunderous applause

It is what stays with you when all have gone

My love for you is silent

That silence before silence

The silence that shouts, very fierce

My silence lingers in rooms emptied of laughter

My silence is clothed in silk and gold

My silence is cold and dark and old

Heavy, unyeilding, demanding to be felt

My love for you is silent

Beastly and green

The silence that grows like ivy on ancient walls

Consuming, persistent, tender in its touch

My silence moves without motion

My silence speaks louder in every breath

Listen to the silence we share

The silence before silence

Iyawo Amed

Iyawo Amed

Come here, stay with me.

Come my sweet lover behold my eyes

Come my sweet lover drown in my gaze

His lips curved to a child like smile

His love raising me beyond ocean tides

His hands pulling me nearer, nearer, closer

Our hearts running towards eachother

His breath a familiar scent

His shoulders a vast embrace

Shush! My sweet lover now asleep

Our chests rise and fall in quiet synchrony

Our hearts beat the same rhythm

Our secrets buried deep,

Anchored in the earth of our hearts,

In the depth of two souls bound by love and destiny

Cactus

What does the cactus say?

Sacred thorns will pierce in darkness of envy

Flesh long thirsty to tell the tale of revenge

Limbs tiresome in weights of shields of sprinkled water

Forearms weathered in ancient banter

What does the cactus say?

I am the Queen of all flowers

Fierce in bloom untamed

I am love, I am life

Beneath my thorns lies one I guard.

Withstanding time's cruel whispers, I stand.

About the Writer

Safa Alhassan is a passionate writer, educator, and researcher from Nigeria. Through her words, she seeks to create a safe space where emotions are honored, vulnerabilities embraced, and love is explored in its deepest, most authentic form. Safa believes in the power of writing to heal, to connect, and to foster genuine, fearless love; not only with others, but also within ourselves. Beyond her writing, she uses her background in education and research to explore the complexities of human emotions, culture and relationships, always aiming to inspire self-discovery and resilience.