by Nandagopal T
“Hand on heart,” I asked you,
“Can you ever love me enough?
To risk losing all and the few
Other people who matter and you love?”
You looked askance at the phrasing
And said, “Look, I’ve got to tell
You; this tortuous shit is draining
Emotionally. You know I love you well…”
“But to be asked to rain arrows, scorn and hate
At my people and to storm against the few
And all is not why I’m talking this late.
Answer, in short: I can’t. Sorry, it’s not you!”
“It’s just that I promised myself
That I’m never going through shit like this,
The last time I broke up. There’s this gulf,
You see, between your want and my promise”
“Fair enough,” I said, “I want to not
Regret not doing anything, you want
To not regret trying. Not even a shot
At finding out if I have any fault?”
You smiled and said, “Yeah, that’s right,
I love you enough to not want to hurt you.”
I smiled back and said, “I know. Goodnight,
I know enough to say I love you too!”
And there we stood, with nothing to say
In the untimed corridors of an unspoken world;
We looked at each other and each other’s way,
And with clasped hands we saw, a new way lay unfurled.
