They said love will be your salvation
I scoffed – sweaty palms and clumsy hands,
The frenzy of blinking lights, fleeting hearts
Evanescent like the smoke from my cigarette.
I saw others seek love, seek comfort (what’s the difference?)
In rose-bud lips and hazel eyes
That blasphemed as they adored the lover
That shone contempt as they wept for joy.
And yet my heart – that overwrought fool –
Shamelessly sang her honeyed melody
In praise of your riotous locks and razor tongue
Untamed in all their glory.
As I lay in your lap on lazy afternoons, sated
Or clasped my hand in yours after a squabble
Or sought your warmth when all seemed dark
I knew bliss at last: God had smiled upon me.
His children though, bubbled with rage and curses
They called it sinful, a woman’s tender love for another woman
We fled, we hid, we lived like outlaws
Wondering how a blessing could be profane.
They said love will be your death too
I grinned, as we drank poison from the other’s cup
Fingers and lives entwined, never to be parted
And what of death when it gave me life!
Ila Railkar is an MBBS graduate and works as a doctor at Nair hospital, Mumbai. She is a hoarder of books and a lover of history. She can be reached on Instagram at @languagesarelyf
Featured image credit: Pariplab Chakraborty