One wishes for a resonance in love
Frequencies in harmony
Not for the half-hearted agreements to stop conflicts
Conflicts that would have scratched the surface
Not for the defeated yes that matches the other’s to save them both time
Time they spent, carelessly, growing apart
Not for the absent nods that just indicate attendance over presence
Presence that was never willingly gifted
Not for the vacant looks delivered glancing up that phone,
arriving at that moment from miles away,
wishing still, that they were miles away…
One wishes for resonance, a soul-stirring hum
One settles for the numbing drone of everyday life
One wishes for a visibility in love
Unveiling oneself in all its glory
Not for the dreamy potential one carries like a promise
Promises that may never be realized
Not for the ghost of the romantic past reimagined to a faultless perfection in the other’s memory
Perfection that becomes the impossible cross to bear
Not for the recasting they hope to do, in their own image
Twinning that erases all that makes one unique
Escapist love does not need one to come to their own
They need congruent echo chambers and matching watch lists
Masquerading as identical souls…
One wishes for visibility, a looking glass
One settles for the hall of mirrors
One wishes for a retreat in love
Intimacy guarded in a crowded world
Not for the aesthetically pleasing posts and rib-tickling quotes
Satiating an endless hunger for just more eyeballs and more likes
Eating away from what is kept for ‘us’’
Not for the silk tethers that a family brings
Frail ropes of various lengths binding each to the other
Lugging on an endless journey; just stringing one along
Moving away from what is thought for ‘us’
Giving oneself wholly is underrated and outdated
when one can disintegrate into a million bytes
and share it with a fawning world…
One wishes for a retreat in love, a private haven
One settles for the milestone wishes in group chats
