Featured Illustration: Samiksha Singh

Love is meant to be pure

Golden streams

Of honey

A heart traveling 

One to another

Without any stop signs

Natural

Not contaminated

Or filtered by conditions

A heart

That’s an open book

Misunderstood at times

But loved by others

Pages

Now smothered 

By neighbouring dust 

Trapped in mind’s lockers

The golden stream

Barricaded by conditions

Fabricated 

To fit a corrupted 

Love’s blueprint

When did love 

Turn from a simple 

And genuine “I love you”

To pre-requisites

Like being embellished 

In jewelry

Or playing mind games

To test love’s opportunities

When did it become

Less of a feeling

And more of a contract