Part 3: Love is Immortal

(Dedicated to myself, as a reminder of the immortality of Love.)

He had been betrayed,
His life needed to end.
For how could he live much longer,
With the pain he had suffered,
At the hands of a heart so cold.

All he wanted now,
Was to see her one last time.
Tell her that he would not spread the pollen.
That he would rather die,
Than help her kind multiply.

And so he went to meet her.
But once there, he was shocked and despaired.
She had withered black,
Her colors lost, her petals fallen.
She lay before him, dead.

She had withered that morning,
He'd been too late in coming.
He sat there weeping for their souls.
Hers for having tricked him into love,
And his for having let her die alone.

But now that she was dead,
Nothing mattered anymore.
His hatred melted away,
Withered away like her petals.
His complaints eloped with her laughter.

And all that remained,
Was a lonely beetle,
With precious memories of love.
Love that she had given him,
But could give him no more.

Now only two stood there weeping,
Atop her shriveled remains.
Love and He.
And Love said to him,
Seeing how he had lost all hope.

Do you truly believe,
That love can be faked?
That someone's heart could be that cruel?
You have listened to fear and that was your biggest mistake.
For he will tell you bitter truths that'll get you nowhere.

Listen to my tales instead,
Though the world may insist,
That they be lies,
That they be twisted,
Atleast they won't kill you with their bitterness.

She used you, it's true.
But that she loved you,
Is a greater truth.
She did what she did,
Only because she had to.

She had no choice.
But you are different.
You have a one.
You may forget her,
curse her, or end your life.

Or you may instead,
Forgive her crimes,
And listen to your heart,
To do what may be difficult,
But more importantly, what may be right.

He wept a lot, but in the end, took Her advice.
He had known what true love was,
How it had changed his life.
And now he wished for the world to know,
To know that love divine.

He went around the jungle,
Out to its far reaches,
And spread her pollen,
Wherever he could.
Till he had exhausted all that he had.

Months passed,
And he lived on.
He lived only for her,
Tending the buds that had appeared,
On plants he had pollenized.

He gave them his love and care.
And he laughed at Love.
She had thought he had a choice.
But did he really?
Could he, when he was in love?

He had decided to wait only till next spring,
Once the flowers bloomed,
He would have done his duty.
He would not have let beauty die.
And then, he would be free.

Spring came and the flowers bloomed.
And he was reminded of her scent.
For the entire jungle,
Carried her fragrance now.
The jungle, filled with her joy and radiance.

And then he heard it,
The sound of her laughter.
The sound he had craved, for so long, unknowing.
Could it be possible.
After he'd lost all hope?

He rushed to the sound, and true enough,
There stood his sweet maiden.
More beautiful than ever,
Gracefully waiting,
Awaiting his return.

He realized then the power of Love.
Her power to change lives.
He knew not if She was a thief.
He knew not if She had planned this all along.
Or if his story was but a twist of of fate.

He knew not how his maiden,
Had come back to life.
He knew not what would happen now,
For how long she was alive.
He knew not if Love had cheated him.
He knew not if She had lied.
All he knew for sure,
Was that Love had never died.

-TheDreamer

Part 2: Love is a Cheat

(Dedicated to my dear friend, Vivek Pareek as a reminder that people do things that they have to, but they are not the evil to have done so.)

He approached her,

Unsure, even scared,

His feelings,

Suppressed no more.

His self, for her laid bare.

However shy she was,

She did not resist.

She let him come near,

She let him love her.

She submitted to him.

And they became one.

Consumed in their love for each other.

He shared his soul with her.

His dreams, his joys, his passions,

Became one with her laughter.

And soon she knew

All there was to know,

About a simple black beetle.

And his small world,

Which now revolved around her.

Yet try as he may,

She never told him of herself.

Never spoke of her dreams,

Her plans.

She just liked to listen.

Whenever he asked her,

All she said was that she loved him,

And that that should be enough.

If asked more,

She would just become silent.

So he never troubled her,

With these unpleasant questions.

He was too lost in his happiness,

Too lost in their future.

To notice if anything was amiss.

And it broke his heart,

To leave her each night.

To bid adieu and watch her from afar,

As she curled up her petals and slept,

Bathed in magical starlight.

He would retire to sleep thereafter,

Dreaming of her,

Deep into the happy night.

Asking himself how he was worthy,

Of knowing such love divine.

He slept, only to be welcomed each morning,

By her charming smile.

And spending the day by her side,

Talking to her of all things

That came to his mind.

But that particular day was different,

She seemed so sad.

And he didn't like that.

So he decided to make her happy,

He decided to show her how much he loved.

He showed it by making it.

And he gave her all the joys,

That he could offer.

And it made her happy,

The happiest of all creatures.

That night the adieu,

was more painful than ever.

She bid him farewell,

With tears in her eyes,

tears both of joy and sorrow.

The next morning the beetle awoke,

Only to find his back covered,

By the sticky pollen that she'd secreted.

What was it he wondered?

And why wouldn't it come off his back?

And Fear came to him,

And told him how he had been taken,

By the charms of that innocent-looking lady.

He said that this is what she did,

She tricked unsuspecting beetles.

She had used him, his love,

Had trapped him into making love to her.

And smeared him with her pollen,

Contaminating his pure heart.

All this for her own wicked schemes and plots.

He said she had faked her love,

Only to draw him near.

She had used him for her own good.

And he would never love again,

As no one ever should.

He did not want to believe Him.

Yet he did.

Yet never thought it possible to hate her.

Still he did.

He never thought Love would cheat him.

But in the end, She did.

-TheDreamer

Part 1: Love is a Thief

(Dedicated to my dear friend, Mohit Pandey as a reminder that no one has ever been a loser for trying to get something out of his league.)

He had fallen in love.

He, a big black beetle,

She, the most beautiful of creatures.

Tall and lonely,

with colors bright as the morning sunshine,

And a sweet scent divine.

Her petals open -

Charming, but not seductive,

Her pollen-filled center -

A heart to be discovered and loved

Yet open to only him who could win her.

For she was a lady,

And would make no stray talk.

She would just stand,

A lonely beauty,

Waiting all by herself, just waiting.

The beetle had loved her,

From the day he'd set his eyes,

Upon that transcendental face.

Yet he had seen her only from afar.

Never daring an approach.

He was still an adolescent,

He had no experience.

At wooing a girl,

let alone one,

of such grand beauty.

But he was glad it was so.

For he wished to love,

Just one, just once.

Forever.

And it had to be her.

He was too scared of rejection.

For he was big,

black and awkward.

While she was mystical maiden,

Her fresh colors mirroring her laughter.

What had he to offer?

Why would she love him?

She would never accept it.

What was the point in trying?

When he knew it was to be an imminent failure.

But Love came to him,

And She told him to tell her.

Tell her his heart's true yearnings.

His love, his desires,

And to not give in to fear.

She said she would understand,

She would be glad.

To be with someone like him.

She said beauty wasn't enough for happiness,

That she was lonely.

He was still not convinced.

He could not dare to be.

But how long could he resist?

How could he win?

How could he triumph against Love?

Especially when all he wanted was to lose,

To lose it all to Love,

His heart, his self, himself.

So he gave in,

and followed Her path.

He told her that he loved her,

And that he always would.

He said his life had no meaning without her.

And he could offer her more love,

Than anyone else in this world could.

She listened to this,

And to his unbelieving joy,

She accepted happily!

She swayed in the wind,

Overcome with emotions.

She said she had always been lonely,

But now all her dreams had come true.

That she couldn't ask for anything better.

And that she would love him equally,

in return, if not more.

His joy knew no bounds,

And he became one with her,

In the end, thus, Love triumphed.

And that's why Love is a thief.

For he might have stolen his love,

But She had, his heart.

-TheDreamer

The Smell of Heaven

(What would heaven smell like?)

I kept it near my nose,

and took in a deep breath.

The breath filled my lungs,

the aroma, my consciousness.

I never wished to exhale,

lest I waste the smell.

I wished not to live,

lest I had to ever breathe again.

I wished not to breathe,

'coz I knew this would end.

The aroma would fade,

the feeling would pass.

Only I would remain,

forever suspended in the memory.

Of a sweet smell that was,

but was not meant to last.

I wished my heart would stop,

I couldn't ask for more.

I'd smelt heaven while I lived,

I feared hell no more.

-TheDreamer

Afterthoughts

PROLOGUE
 

Do you know the problem with afterthoughts?
They're always late.



THE STORY

A study shows that girls consider college canteens the second worst place for breakups. The first prize goes ofcourse to the internet. Guys who dump their girlfriends in such places are considered cheap, irresponsible and disrespectful. Considering a different study which showed that girls find changing their FB status to 'single' to be the easiest way out of a relationship made my situation outright hillarious.

But I am not laughing. I am too busy poking my plateful of noodles with a fork and trying to avoid the stare of the girl sitting across from me. She is my 5-month long girlfriend now. And yes, I am sitting at my college canteen. Who am I? I guess I am that cheap, irresponsible and disrespectful boyfriend I was telling you about. I'm not laughing because I'm supposed to be talking. And I'm not talking because she is staring. She ofcourse is staring because I am not talking, but that is immaterial right now. Besides, we are running around in circles. What is important is that I am not talking because I don't know what to say. I called her here to dump her. Now, I've already hinted at that. That is exactly what I have been doing for the past half an hour , while she has been silently eating her food and I have been toying with mine. When I finally asked her why she won't say anything, the lady hints that she wants me to speak it out loud. As in, put it in a proper sentence and present it to her. God knows what the world is coming to, with one human not being able to understand another without the use of shallow linguistic constructs!
 

I wonder why the hell did I think of even bringing this topic up?

Too late for that now.
I take a deep breath.
"I want to dump you..."
Shit. that didn't sound like I wanted it to.
"I mean... I want to end our relationship," I finished meekly.

Well done genius! Ten full minutes to contemplate whether or not to speak that sentence and then, not ever ten seconds of thought into what to actually say.

She kept looking straight at me, unreactive. I had a rapid vision of her slapping me. I cringed my face instinctively at that thought.

"Yeah. I want to too. And I don't think..."

I want to too? The slap was replaced by a vision of the canteen boy in a pink 

tutu, with his ever-soiled table wipe flung on his shoulder, performing a ballet in the centre of the canteen. I tried pushing that out of my head. So she has wanted to beak up too? 

Wait. When the hell did that happen?

How come I didn't know? Is she breaking up just because I am, or did she plan to do it all along? So she was going to dump me in the college canteen? How cheap, irresponsible and disrespectful of her. How dare she dump me. After all I'd done for her. How did she think, even for an instant, that I am not worthy of her. It is she who is not worthy of me.

"Good. It seems that we have an agreement then," she said.

Wait. What the hell did I just miss?

"Uh- what? What did you just say?"

She rolls her eyes. I hate it when she does that.

"I said, that I don't think we should talk anymore. Ever."

"What do you mean we can't talk? We are in the same class, you know? We have to talk some time."

She shook her head. I was not liking this.

"Umm... how about on the phone? Can I call you?"

Another shake of the head. I was not liking this one bit. What had I done to her? Why was she making such a big deal out of the breakup?

Last try - "SMS?"
Her patience apparently ended then. "No. No SMS, no calls, no talking whatsoever. I don't wanna ever talk to you again," she said with a lot of emotion.

I looked into those beautiful eyes. She obviously still felt for me. She said she didn't want to talk but she said that with difficulty. Was it possible this was as difficult for her as for me? I looked at that pretty face. It had just one expression - disappointment. She got up and stormed off. Her words rang in my ears. 'I don't wanna ever talk to you again.' That voice. Something that I'll miss. Something that I'll never hear again. A sea of memories came crashing down of me. Memories of all the times that I had spent with her. I should have said something to her. I should have defended myself harder. Should have told her what I really felt.

And what I really felt came flooding out from inside me. From my very depths, I replied to her, though she wasn't there to hear it. I said -- "Challenge Accepted!"



 

EPILOGUE

All was silent thereafter. Life seemed to have fallen silent along with her. And then, another afterthought --
 

Wait. What the f**k just happened?

For Dreams I felt Dearer

I loved you once,
but I love you no more.
I miss you but,
with my heart's very core.

When illness befalls,
I miss you even more.
Crying deep into the night,
my eyes turn sore.

I miss you my Love,
your love I miss.
Your love I loved,
my dream of eternal bliss.

I dreamed of you love,
yet the love was not dreamt up.
It was all for real,
but for dreams I gave up.

God save my soul,
that I chose to desert her.
That dearest of loves,
for dreams I felt dearer.

Put me to sleep,
rest my head on your shoulder.
Weep for my soul,
while I die, getting colder and colder.

-TheDreamer

(This poem came to me at midnight yesterday. The lines came to me very fast, and I had to hurry and grab a pen, to write it down, lest it be lost.


Often, on the path of his dreams, one has to leave behind his loved ones. One has to tread alone. The ones left behind may forgive us, because they love us. Yet they are never forgotten. Our mind, our conscience, never lets us.)