Redefining Love

Redefining Love

Who says love is easy?
It’s no less than undertaking an expedition,
attempting to summit a snow-capped mountain
shrouded in awe and mystery—a deadly mission;
short-winded, flip-flopping heartbeat, making all lovers queasy.

Carefully treading on the slippery, icy rocks,
for a fall is equivalent to landing on the snake,
as in a snakes-and-ladder game and start all over again.
A feeling of deep sleep while awake;
not a single word of wisdom or intellect on the mind flocks.

Surviving the avalanche of physical and emotional challenges,
embracing the glaciers of notoriously fickle dos and don’ts,
crossing icefall of imagination, sudden storms of mood swings—
complete these eliminating the risk of perishing, leaving those already reckoned.
Long-lasting, lustrous color of love keeps the faith, always convinces.

From severe fatigue and exertion to run after the beloved,
elevated love-altitude ailments, trauma associated with heartbreaks,
extremely low breathable air of reciprocating love,
during each climbing season of love are some of the bellyaches.
The secret to successful summiting is rarely ungloved. 

Acclimatize initially by living in the reveries of the budding love,
then fully immersing in the hallowed company.
At the start of the journey, the feeling of vulnerability persists,
excited and tensed like a five-year-old journeying  without ceremony—
alone, without the hand of a parent, as scared as a dove. 

Nearing the pinnacle, advanced involvement may cause brain damage,
lead to confusion due to hysterical, love fanaticism,
loss of love–life balance, ultimately admirable torpor;
the idealistic ones rule with no trace of pragmatism,
enormous hope and astounding resilience are the ones that salvage.

Lovers wish to take the less-traveled path for uniqueness—
the north face, the east face, the south face, the west face of the mountain.
But every single love story is peerless.
Narratives of every Romeo and Juliet, Heer and Ranjha hearten,
the boundlessness of love and selfless intoxication awaken the mysterious.

Before the peak, there is the “death zone”—
frostbite of preconceived notions, snow blindness from lack of prescience,
hypothermia from ambivalence are the major perils.
But the exaggerations and culminations, their blooming impermanence;
the expansive ecstasies, their radical cadence of rise and fall are known. 

Finally, the summit is reached with clear skies of thoughts to absorb,
the icing sits unparalleled on top of the cake.
One sees the outstretched canvas—the magnanimity of love, its blissful comfort;
the unfading affection in its entirety to take,
gifting oneself the amaranth of immortality and enduring love to conserve.

Author: Sreelekah Chatterjeea

Photo:  Christopher Beloch on Unsplash

More Love and Relationship Challenge