The Longest Love Letter

by

We have been separated
By aeons and generations
And places of all kind –
Ideas of ancestors
Long forgotten by time,
Travelling through the void,
On this lonely mote of dust;
Identities of all kind
Of meanings arbitrary
Thrust onto us,
Without us understanding,
Or knowing any better.

Yet the same crimson essence
Flows through our veins.
We laugh when we’re merry,
And we cry in misery.
The same secret language
Brought us into this world,
Manifested with the same
Borrowed elements,
To be given back
When the lease is up.
Sometimes we are gods,
Healing all wounds,
Or the devil incarnate
Burning anything,
And everything,
And more,
On our meaningless path.

Instead of celebrating,
We are busy separating
Each other and ourselves,
With man-made symbols,
Or a false sense of contrast.
We deprive one another
Of the pleasure of holding
Each other’s hands
Savouring our histories,
Languages and tales,
Stories of all kinds,
Anecdotes of life.
We deny ourselves,
An ephemeral love
In an ephemeral life,
Because of ancestral ignorance
And inherited fears.

We have crossed an ocean of time.
We survived, did we not?
But look at your own reflection
In the dark of my eyes,
And ask yourself :
Is it truly enough?
What if we dared to live?
And honoured our journeys,
By reuniting, as we should,
Mix into each other
Lips into lips,
Souls into souls,
Like rivers of life,
Carrying sediments of stories,
Into an ocean of symphonic,
And operatic odyssey
Where bridges are meant to be
Built and maintained.
Not burned and destroyed.

Image credit: Feature image generated with DALL·E using a prompt based on this poem and its themes.
If this piece resonates with you and you’re a visual artist, I’d love to feature your own soul-crafted work in place of the AI image.

From the poetry compilation

Happy Hallucinations

More Poems

Kintsugi of a broken heart

Kintsugi of a broken heart

For days on endI stood numb and still,With frostbites on the cavityWhere my heart used to be.Your cold hand has snatched,Pulled, and frozeThe vessel of my passion –The busted drumThat used to beatTo the rhythm of your name.In a fit of rageYou crushed,And threw...

Worms on my lips

Worms on my lips

When I’ll cease to be,And the worms will throw a feastOn these lips that you loved so,Know that they will sayCould they say anything at all:“In his last moment,He sighed your name.”Image credit: Feature image generated with DALL·E using a prompt based on this poem and...

Do you remember?

Do you remember?

Do you remember?That lazy summer’s day?When a few sleepy raindropsCradled by the sky,Rolled over and fell downFrom their soft beds?You do remember, don’t you?How they landed on your cheek?How gently you woke them up,With that sweet smile of yours?How the spark in your...

Look within!

Look within!

Look inside!Look within!I know what you see.You see yourselfOn the ocean of your soul.Barely holding onto your raftBeing thrown aroundBy rogue waves.How your bullies onceThrew your bag around after school –A crying monkeyIn the middle … I can see in your face.Storm...

Dear Alchemist

Dear Alchemist

What do you do When you wake up One fine morning, Discovering What you thought To be your darkness Was your light all along? When you find that Your frigid heart Has been guarding Kindlings for you And has been Gracefully striking Your hardened Regret and misery To...

Dear Artist

Dear Artist

Dear Artist Red is the colour of passion, And blue that of sadness – Or so people say. As if colours ever had Inherent meanings other than ones We bestowed upon them… What are these colours even, Without a stream of light? Their waves crashing on pigments Who are...

Keep in Touch

YouTube

Become a Subscriber

LinkedIn

For professional purposes

TikTok

Follow me!

It’s a Rik Life

Rik Bhattacharja © 2023

All Rights Reserved