Anatomy of Love

Poetry | From Anatomy of Love and Melancholy (2021)

When love arrives at your doorstep
it brings a basket of gifts:
a beggar’s cup,
a bottle of acid in angst,
a large vial of promises and dreams,
and time to die for it.
It will sit at your table,
sleep in your bed,
haunt your dreams,
exhaust your days,
and carry your soul away,
far away from yourself.

When love wanders into your life
out of the blue
its charm will drag you
to some mountain or valley,
to ocean or river,
and ask you to jump from a cliff
and drown for it.

When love arrives
out of the blue
with no regard for distance
or timezones
it will astound you with auroras
and swaths of rainbows
and ask if you’re ready
to take the treacherous path of poets.

When love comes
patience and fortitude leave,
sleep and tranquility follow suit
switching off the light of reason
on the way out.

When love arrives out of the blue
it will pitch a tent in your heart.
You will despair.
You freeze
nowhere to run.