We were gathered together

On a windy evening without a crowding party

To save the drops of tear for sorrow

To share our smiles for ordinary day

To wait for whatever happens to make us happy

And, to listen you say love me

We don’t dissolve like sugar in the water

We share our warm glass of water

With lemon and honey

Our togetherness has been bitter-sweet indeed

Since, we are not clever enough

To read each other like a newspaper

We have drawn lines in between

My expectations and your choices, my hopes and your aspirations

Life, I have cut for you, and the time I have taken away from your freedom

You can put on the melodies of dissonant sound

For your upsets, regrets, nostalgias, and doubts

It’s not strange that I forget more than you reminders

I have no love poem for you

Only simple verses to articulate generalizations in expressions

I know how to look outside the window and wait

As you talk and I often listen, almost like a monologue

And, we shall be together till

We pick up the rubbish and put them in the dustbin

Even when our hearts have failed to meet

We have rolled over, riding on thunder, rain, and fire

Our love story is recognizable as sunlight, sand, and skin

Even when we compare our honesty to say you need me as I do

We have threads of commitment that weaves us

For the love that there is

Even when we can’t bring our ideas together

~Gaurav Ojha

Kathmandu, Nepal