Today’s prompt by napowrimo.net is a classic love poem, which I just happen to write an awful lot of.
This one is a little angsty, but it gets better, as all love stories do. I decided I wanted it to be happy, after all. If you’re here, please also go check out the poems written by my best friends, Kittu’s Modern Mixtape, and Amour Infini. They’re amazing writers, and they have wonderful takes on life in their poetry!
Happy reading! Xx
This one,
Like all others that came before,
Sits with the rest of the unsent mail–
Can you call them unsent
If they never found their way?
They never made it to the right mailbox,
And thus, returned,
Wounded in action,
Bleeding red words,
‘Return to sender,’ said they.
This one,
I should’ve known like all other times
When I had to walk away from your door–
I can’t call it a closed door
Because you don’t live there anymore.
But I visit it anyway–
I so yearn for the lingering perfume
That may hang around your porch–
And I wait there, on the doorstep, thinking,
At least it wasn’t you who sent me away.
This one,
Like all other things left unsaid,
I wish I had told you to your face;
Had I known it was the very last time,
I’d have memorized every smile,
I wouldn’t have waited this long–
But all I have is this silence:
A vacuum where you should’ve been–
I wanted you to give me a reason,
I wanted you to ask me to stay.
This one,
Like all other poems about you,
Remains in a diary, unread,
When it should’ve been me
Reciting this to you, instead.
There isn’t enough time in the world
For us to waste away in tears,
So tell me that you want me here,
And why you never told me
Why my letters came back unread.
This one,
Like all other stories of love,
Ends with us finding our way back–
I didn’t have a reason back then,
I dearly wish I’d had.
And if regrets were to drown me,
I’d drown me in my tears for you,
And if my tears sprung an ocean,
I’d wish to find you set sail
Towards the depths that lead you to me.
This one…
I’m hoping won’t be like the others;
I’m hoping this letter of love reaches you,
And I’ll wait, like I promised,
For you on your front porch,
Like all my letters say–
And when I look up,
And this isn’t all a dream,
I’ll only hope that my love
Is returned to its sender– me.
~© Shubhangi Srinivasan.
Featured Image by Ire Photocreative on Unsplash
The Shubhster Diaries 
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