Heart of the Matter

Heart of the Matter

They sit together each with a pencil in hand

To heal their wounds

For every conflict sorted, they will draw an arch

From biggest to smallest...

They promise

         To give each other Time

         To respect each other,

         Some space in-between so that

        they stifle not their love with doting too much

        Honest they will remain

        Will understand that their ego is smaller

        Than the sanctity of their love...

        Agree that they will stumble...

        But each will stretch out, hold the other up...

        They promise, they will hear

        The beating heart, the breaking heart

                         will hear when there are words,

                         when there is silence...

They look at the paper

Arch within arch,

Reaching in, to the very core

To the heart of the matter,

They seal the deed,

And wed again.

Note - 

This was really a challenging prompt. I scratched my head an umpteen number of times, thinking, thinking, thinking. Interestingly, there are 7 arches in the picture. This reminded me of the saat (seven) phere (going around a pious fire as a priest chants some prayers) the bride and groom take with each other on their wedding day. These seven rounds around fire seal their marriage as per Indian customs. This made me think of a relationship that was meant to last forever, but is breaking apart. The couple here realizes that they cannot let each other go, and hence sits down to resolve the conflict. Arches symbolize the transition they will make, the inner journey they will take here. They make seven promises in the poem and re-marry each other.



Linking it to B-A-R

It's Still Okay...!

He remembered the time he had proposed to her. She had blushed. He had hugged her. Their love story had been perfect. Their marriage blissful. There were no complaints. She had asked him to love her unconditionally. He had promised. She had said," Promise me you will always love me. When I am angry, when I am happy, when I am sad, when I am upset...Even when I grow old and stoop and wrinkle, you will always love me." And he had promised. He had asked her to promise something too...'Never leave me". She had said 'Yes!'

It was five years ago. An accident had changed things now. A severe head injury had made her lose her memory. She did not remember anything now. Her name, his name, their love, their promises. 

He reminded her everyday. He told her stories about their past. He declared his love to her an umpteen number of times, a declaration that only evoked a response of confusion. 

One day, after he had told her that he loved her, she asked, "Why?"

"I had promised to love you. You are my life."

He told her about the promise they had made to each other five years ago.

"I am not old, but I am not yours either. I don't remember anything. I have broken my promise. Even then you love me?" A look of bewilderment passed on her face.

"Yes, I still love you. You have not broken your promise. You survived the accident, even though the doctors had given up. There was something that stopped you from going. I want to think that it was our love."

Tears trickled on her cheeks like rain drops. He wiped them off. 

"You don't mind when I look away? You don't feel heart-broken when I shrug off your touch? Is it still okay?"

He held her hands with a warmth that she felt, perhaps for the first time, in so many months. 

"Yes, it's still okay."

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Her palpitations had increased. Her speech was incoherent. She had hardly slept. She could not sit. Her eyes seemed to be popping out of her head. Medicines were not helping. Friends reached out to her to tell her to try relaxation techniques. Stop the pill, they told her. She could not hear them. She had faith, faith in her husband that he would cure her. 

He had faith too - faith in the medicine. 

He sat there. He was working on his computer. He had promised to be with her. 

The chest pain suffocated her. She gasped for fresh air. 

She had not slept for days. She had lost count.

The phone rang. She did not pick. She could hardly talk. He answered.

"Yes, she is fine......She has the pain, still......No, no the medicine will help her.......No....she did not sleep......"

".....the palpitations are there.....No, she could not sleep.....Don't worry.....It's still okay...."

Written for IndiSpire Edition 96