Love In The Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
When glistening drops of dew swivelled across the leaves,
When hazy films of sun lifted their candid veils;
When morning spring walked the aisle of the autumn road,
I saw a face whose reflection, since years, I have behold.
In envious vanity, she swayed her hair,
In rapturous youth, she erred everywhere;
But stoic her nod was to my pure passion
Which sent me blazing waves of heartburn.
Running behind her, became my moral;
Worshipping her being, was a religion;
In those auburn eyes, my heart would lie still
And yet it would flutter, like about to begin.
A feeling so full, like a maniac I would cling,
It reduced to nothingness, every other thing;
Exquisitely wrapped, as beautiful as one can be
Convinced I was, she was born for me.
Alas! Confession lost breath in a wave of condescension;
But my knees found strength even in that repudiation;
For I never lost my heart as per a plan,
For I never sang a song as a sound man.
Delusional, I wandered into many seductive doors;
Recluse, I made love, with artifice galore.
She glided in the sea of my eyes, like a white swan
Even though she fell into another man’s arm.
Awareness of her otherness came to my ears
Like a winter breeze, cold enough to bear.
So I let it freeze, a corner of my world
And see it melt again in my ardent words;
The words that I blew like clouds in the light,
The words that I hid in the blanket at night,
The words which stood at the threshold of age,
The words that could soon be a magical adage.
In another world, she continued to sew;
Stitching pieces which kept falling due;
She held her resolve, all through though,
Loyalty was her brightest bow.
Seasons dropped, and soared again
Leaving behind many a spring and rain;
Each saying goodbye never without
Her fragrant memory kissing my mouth.
One fine day, I sampled my hands, and pulled the skin off my face;
They succumbed to my pull; the mirror flagged the twilight of my race.
Hastily I knocked at my heart, placing a trembling hand in thrill;
A lovely cooing filled my senses; the bird of love was singing still.
I stepped on that trail again, there was no time to lose;
The ache within was poised to be smeared in love, profuse.
She had, at last, taken the path that had led her to me;
She had, at last, taken the baton to set her heart free.
The ship which carried her, stood wavering near the dock;
As if even that inanimate was drunk under her lock.
Time had robbed her of some shine and gifted her some fatigue too;
In the folds of her sagging skin but, I finally found I was who.
The twinkle from her eyes aimed for my heart;
And joined it with hers while tearing it apart.
Most of the sailors and the marine men stood chuckling at the sight
Of the passionate embrace of two old people, holding on so tight.
But only few eyes could detect a current so resplendent
That bound the two vagabonds into a promise, to be kept.
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