Missed Opportunities

Her eyes brushed through each delicate finger on her left hand and settled on the ring finger. It was clad in the most beautiful adornment she had ever seen. She smiled. How unbelievable can life get?

On this day last year, she was broke, jobless, deserted and distraught. She had missed her flight to a job interview, hence lost the chance of a lifetime. The love of her life had eloped with his cousin, three days to their wedding. And her mother had a stroke shortly thereafter.

The man who was now shaving in the bathroom of their hotel room had spotted her at the hospital, while she cared for her mother. He wouldn’t rest on his oars until she agreed to be his wife, immediately conferring her with the erstwhile vacant position of vice-chairman in his group of farms.

The bathroom door opened and she turned. “Good morning, chérie,” he beamed. She smiled again, walked towards him and wrapped him with the warmest embrace. “Bonjour chéri.”

She was happy. True, she didn’t know what the future would bring and yes, she had been to the abyss and back but she knew that between missed opportunities and better outcomes, there was hope and despair, calm and disquiet, soreness and wellness, tears and  laughter. There was penury, want, loneliness. There was harsh reality. And then, there was life!

The only place I call home

I’m journeying back to the place – your heart

The only room whose doors never closed

I’m driving thru these streets – your ways

They hold familiar fondest memories

I’m totally trusting my tour guide – your hands

They work me thru the basics of the neighborhood

We come to a rare attraction – the scar

The unsavory relic of our breakup fight

Just across is the post office – your ears

In it I dropped every letter formed on my lips

I cannot forget the clinic – your bosom

It gave me the best therapy, second to none

I try to take a quick shot at the park – your mind

It inspired the best games ever

Finally, I stand at the door of your heart. You open.

Your eyes ask a million unbelieving times: Are you back for real, for good?

I murmur a thousand shameful yeses

I never should have broken this heart

The only place that ever was home

Love Gone Wrong

Sing me a song
Of love gone wrong
Kill me softly
Kill my thrill

Ring out a dirge
Of a battle lost
The prize of a heart
Conceded to another

Plant my seed
On fairer soil
I lose today
But not forever

Teach me the how
Of other worlds to explore
I’ll lift my trophy
When time is ripe

Will You Let Me?

I want to listen with my heart

To hear the words that you’re not telling

I want to gaze into your eyes

To see beyond the borders of these steely pair

I want to kiss your lips

And unearth the secrets that lie there within

I want to draw close

And smell the truest fragrance of your soul

I want to hold your hands

And unleash feelings you never knew existed

So here’s me asking, “will you let me?”