Amrita Valan

Love Like That

1.

Love makes me afraid 
Romantic and filial love are infused with 
Pungency. Memories of loss waft 
Listless in the breeze.

Platonic love and friendship
Is less arduous. More do-able 
A camaraderie, enjoyable not indispensable.
Gentler on the heart.

Last night, every joint and nerve in my body
Trembled, bitter drum beats , betrayal and
Humiliation throbbed percussive through my veins.
I curled into a foetus to forget.
When will I learn?

It isn't the betrayal or the betrayer I need to wear
Like a badge but the beauty of my courage, to
Sport the great love I felt? A corsage flaunted on
My wrist, fearless as it droops to fade.
Love without fear, alone is love.

The rest, expectations of transactions.
Loss and betrayal are rust. Doomed
To die upon its noble mettle.
One day I want to remember
The greatest love of my life
Just the way I remember my late mother.
Invisible. Indelible. Immanent.

Then when the pangs come a preaching, 
“Sister leave it be”, I can smile delirious
Through fast tears. “You can't hurt me”.
Love wounds are self-healing.
They can't putrefy.





2.

Every drop blossoms intimate blood flowers
Beautiful sacred kisses of wonder
At a magnitude of magic that is erasure of
Moment of loss.
And the remainder is always
Love...

Amrita Valan is a writer from Bangalore India, and a mother of two boys aged eleven and twelve. She loves to write o life and the range of human emotions. Her work has appeared in several anthologies and online journals