An empty photo frame sits on my mantelpiece

Its occupant photograph for years was once a symbol of love, merriment, and an exultant beginning;

How it transformed overnight into a rendition of a failed love story, of broken promises, of abandonment, of sadness and of an unthinkable hatred!

Our photograph continued to occupy the mantelpiece even though you were long gone

The smiles continued to inhabit it, as if pasted on two mannequin-like people

Who no longer recognized the other

Whose smokescreen love had departed

One day, I finally had the courage to take the photograph out from the frame

To not trigger repressed memories

To pretend that the lost love never existed to begin with

To bring about a semblance of normalcy;

To allow a withered life to go on

An empty photo frame now sits on my mantelpiece

Its teal border does nothing to hide its vacuum

Each time I stare into its desolation, the memories you left behind slap me in the face

As a constant reminder of our what was supposed to be our permanent inseparableness

An empty photo frame sits on my mantelpiece

Which now serves as an aide-memoire that true love is a hoax.

~Nupur Hukmani

India