What is the value of an eyelash, really?
They’re a nuisance most of the time
We flick them away
Lodging themselves in an eye, other times our food
They’re a nuisance.
And yet sometimes they fall on a lover’s cheek, beckoning you
Gently caress their warmth, brushing it aside with your fingertips
Examining it with child-like curiosity, you raise it to their gaze- an offering
Asking simply for a wish in return.
We are obsessed with these rituals
The slow methodical pull of my hairbrush each morning
Pain then pleasure.
I am consumed by the devotion I feel to the furrow in his brow
The way they move with his laugh, his cry
Why am I so afraid?
What is an eyelash next to a man?
Nothing.
And yet sometimes, I feel it is everything
—Raghad Khalil, Fulcrum President.
