This Thing We Call Love

What’s this thing we call love?

The romantic feeling that overwhelms our system?

That raises our heart beat?

The endless cuddling?

The passionate kisses?

The gazes that go on and on?

The sweet and endearing words?

Sometimes love is inexplainable;

Oftentimes, uncontrollable.

Boughed by this ecstasy,

We look for a forever feeling,

Thinking this love thing will never wane.

As push turns to shove,

Masks are off and

Pretense gives way to reality.

We query love’s claims and

Doubt its enduring power.

Destructive words fly like saucers.

Hand in gloves ready to punch.

Hearts ripped apart.

Off to the divorce court

Forever lovers become sworn enemies.

The end of a bittersweet affair.

Shouldn’t love be viewed from the prism of the Maker?

The One called Love?

The Lover that never quits?

Doesn’t every frail human lover need

A perfect Lover?

Doesn’t the imperfect need the Perfect?

Then, two imperfect lovers

Can risk loving each other

Through the thick and the thin;

A forever feeling,

Moderated by their mutual submission to each other

And to their forever Lover.

Defying the Night

My feet are sore. 

My breath ebbs away. 

I sit on the bed of depression;

My strength failing, my joy gone. 

I tell my soul: ‘You have my permission to let sorrow into your hitherto guarded space.’

No more restraints. 

To hell with drawing strength from the inner voice - 

God’s still small voice that used to urge me on, 

Saying, ‘Wait a little longer, dream some more, don’t give up the fight...till you win.’

Look, I am losing my mind. 

And who will blame me for ending it here?

Life’s been so unfair. 

More tears, less smiles. 

The cock has refused to crow; 

My dawn is locked up in the night, 

Never to herald the day. 

I crawl out of the bed to stare into the darkness. 

The pitch darkness of the night is a metaphor for my soul. 

But, wait, what’s this I am seeing? 

The stars in the sky, shining brighter than I ever saw. 

Not even the darkness could dim their light. 

The stars defy the darkness; 

Riding on the crest of the night to shine.

Look, what’s happening to me? 

Is my mind betraying me? 

Who are you to compare me with a star that defies the night? 

How dare you ask me to start running again! 

And what’s this smile, this new hope, this new strength?

Could it be true I am a star that defies the night? 

I return to bed, beaming with hope. 

I no longer fear the night; I fear me. 

I hold the ace. 

I define the night, and can defy it. 

It is my call. 

The night has all along been waiting for my command. 

Rising from the bed, I say defiantly to the darkness, ‘I am a star!’

‘The darker you are, the brighter I shine. So, bring it on!’

Dark Before Dawn

We hate the dark so much that we don’t see it for what it is - 

An aberration.  

A fleeting pain.  

A passing inconvenience. 

A storm in a tea cup.

Darkness is not made to last.

It’s a constant transition that unites the rich and the poor, the powerful and the villain, the famous and the obscure.

It would be a bore if life were all day, all light and no darkness.

Darkness makes us see the other side of light. 

Makes us take stock, learn and grow.

In the end, it is the tutorial we need to be our best in the day.

Darkness is light in hiding. 

It is where character is forged; where a good day is predicted; and where greatness is born.

It’s true that the darkest of nights produces the brightest of days.

Then, he who loves light must court darkness.

The same way a boy courts a reluctant girl in hope of an emerging love affair.

To be sure, the current darkness will not last. 

Sooner or later, there will be dawn.