I believe

 

I believe in love.

I believe in its power,

and i believe it can render you powerless.

I believe in its timelessness and how untimely it is -

it goes out of fashion in the eyes of the loveless

and timely for the smitten.

Love makes time move fast for the parting lovers

and slow for the waiting ones.

I believe love makes your perception inconsistent

when time is concerned.

I believe in the chaos of an unmade bed,

the randomness of breakfast in bed, and the poignant scene of waiting by a deathbed. I believe in love.

I do. And the “I do’s” of two people so much in love. I believe in love, and how streets become lovely for walking couples and how streets become truly endless when couples think farther than what they can find further in their situation. I believe in it, truly, and the complete honesty

of the now that lovers find themselves in, and the absolute clarity of the here that they claim for themselves. I believe in love - and the vocabulary that becomes selective, memories that become short, and tolerance that grow higher.

I believe in love, and -

the music that intrudes to dictate the dance of lovers,

the poems quoted to conform to a situation,

the sandwich shared by a famished lover to his partner on a diet,

and the joyful gorging of the dieting lover of a badly prepared sandwich,

the distance one travels only to be given the cold-treatment,

the bad penmanship on a birthday card,

the raving on the perfect imperfection of a lover’s face,

the re-acquainting with paintings and other visual arts

and the finding of form and meaning from abstract installations,

the holding hands, one sweaty, and the other calloused,

the blasphemously boring afternoon, and the laughter that cuts through it,

the waiting.

 

I believe in lovers.

 

The things they endure,

the challenges they face. The unsinkable optimism of

a love-struck teenager and the unreasonable pessimism

of a battle scarred lover. The impenetrable No of a decisive

lady and the unrequited love found at the wake of its declaration. I believe in lovers. Their indignation over their cheating comrades, and their solidarity with the jilted brethren. I believe in lovers, and their -

prayers,

loveletters,

kisses,

embraces,

decisions,

petty quarrels,

heated arguments,

and how complicated

they make out of a simple disagreement.

I believe in making up, for I believe in lovers

who don’t give up.

 

And because I believe in love, and in lovers,

I believe in the deception one can commit in its name. I believe that lovers

may turn into liars. I believe in two parallel streets, one leading to oblivion

the other to a rendezvous, lined up with lampposts dimmed enough

to illuminate the passion of the hour. I believe in love, and so believe in pain.

The selective vocabulary shifting to yet another paradigm. The memories

become bitter but aspirations, still sweet. Only, this time, remaining to be

aspirations for the unsinkable optimists. And the pessimist becomes an optimist

with the paramour. I believe in love, and its power to hurt. The meals no longer

taken together and the changing attitudes toward cooking. I believe love and in changing fashion trends.

The changing color pallets of a cheating lover and the clueless partner. I believe in love.

In intuition, and how innocent it is for a hopeful and waiting wife or partner. And because I believe in love

I believe that intuition and gut feelings are the bedrock of regrets. I believe in love, I believe in secrecy

and hidden bank accounts and moonlighting partners. I believe in love, and in travels. And how it

can change perspective. And preference. And the absence of welcome-home dinners.

 

And because I believe in love, I believe in redemption.

I believe in endings and the beginnings it forces. I believe in

colors. That red is truly red because now I notice it is red. So blue is blue.

And yellow, yellow. And green is green. I believe in love, and the redemption that laughter

brings. I believe in coffee shops, pen and paper, and the selective vocabulary,

with each chosen words turning all encompassing with the turn of events.

I believe in the poetry of a jilted lover and the exorcism of randomly chosen synonyms.

I believe antonyms, animosity and antagonism are but alliterations and has no bearing

in your thoughts except to amuse just like violent wishful thinking of a vengeful

lover. I believe in love. In redemption. And the healing power of considering

the leaves falling off a tree, it has served its purpose well. I believe in

redemption and the fading coda of a song and how it lingers. I believe in love.

In redemption. And because I believe in love and in redemption, I believe

in feeling young again. I believe in storytelling. Of King Arthur. Young and strong.

In saints, from the popular ones to the lesser known. In banquets. In bacchanalia and

the truth it brings out. I believe in cartoon characters and droopy eyes. I believe.

 

In love. In redemption. I believe in falling in love again. Over and over again.

Posted originally on my Facebook, December 30, 2010.