My second love poem. Here goes the content; should be fairly self-explanatory:
Oh, If only I were to love!
Love, that rare commodity
Your proverbial needle in the haystack
Or a tiny drop of water
In the vast mass of the mighty Pacific Ocean
Or a tiny ember from a raging Mount Vesuvius
It comes and goes
You blink, you miss it
But it hits you with a bang
As loud as a thousand firecrackers
When you least expect it
Oh, If only I were to love!
Of course, I can’t complain
That I have not loved
And I am not counting crushes
They happen to everyone
After all, adolescence is a tricky phase
I mean love, true love
Yes, it has happened to me
The first time, during my MBA
What made it so special
Was that my memory
So cluttered and unpredictable otherwise
Is crystal clear when it comes to this girl
She was very sweet and shy
And spoke only in English
But most of all, she made me happy
So unfortunate, that she was soon taken
I never had the guts to confess
By the time I did it
I think she was already engaged
So there went my first love
Of, If only I were to love!
Ah yes, I know you are waiting
To hear about my second love
This was more complicated
One, it was not my doing
It was an alliance
Forged by my parents
Through a matrimony website
And my father meeting the girl and her family
In her native, and bringing her to our home
Two, it was a kind of love
That didn’t happen all of a sudden
But rather developed gradually
Over the course of a few months
I liked the girl, to start with
She came from a poor family
And was hard-working and down-to-earth
There wasn’t anything special about her
But she gradually grew on me
Like most AR Rahman songs
It was a promising prospect
Oh, If only I were to love!
Yes, it was a promising prospect
We had met each other only twice
Before our engagement
However, we spoke on a daily basis
Over the phone
There were also video calls
But they were rarely effective
Thanks mainly to Vodafone of course!
We seemed to bond well
Especially over our love of meat
As well as AR Rahman and Harris Jayaraj songs
And of course
Bashing the current government
Left, Right and Centre!
Oh, If only I were to love!
Yes, it was a promising prospect
Or at least we thought so!
That is, everyone, except the girl herself!
The first blow was COVID19
Delaying our marriage by many months
During which we slowly drifted apart
Though I didn’t realise it then
As we all know
Hope springs eternal
Oh, If only I were to love!
Yes, Hope springs eternal
The eventual marriage brought fresh hope
Happening as it did, during the pandemic
A strong ray of sunlight
In a dark and gloomy tunnel
Alas, how ephemeral can these rays be!
Far from being innocent and down-to-earth
The girl was as cunning as a cobra in the grass
Entrapping me with her fangs
And filling my mind and soul
With the powerful venom
Of self-doubt and insecurities
And at the same time
Slithering away towards another guy
Under our very noses
And there, just like that
Went my second love
Oh, If only I were to love!
Oh, If only I were to be loved!
After such an experience
You might as well say, and wisely too
That I shouldn’t believe in love any longer
But, as we all know
Hope springs eternal
And If I don’t hope
Then I am not Ashwin!