Dreamy Poet

Poetry by Kavya Janani. U
Things I Didn’t Know I Loved – List Poem

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved – List Poem

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved (after Nazim Hikmet)

My fingers were greasy.⠀
Too much butter in the macaroni.⠀
But I cared less, for it felt like heaven.⠀
I didn’t know I loved breakfasts,⠀
until the seventh consecutive day⠀
of bean soup and mashed potatoes,⠀
and my mother’s tangible words,⠀
“That’s your only meal for today.”⠀
While I drooled over my friend’s lunch,⠀
my stomach a museum of acid.⠀

Once when they mentioned a village,⠀
I shuddered at the thought of it.⠀
My eyes had only seen barren lands,⠀
parched, cracked, and ant-prone,⠀
backyards that stank of manure,⠀
and compact houses that felt like⠀
insalubrious dungeons of filth.⠀
I didn’t know I loved the countryside,⠀
until I stepped foot on the idyllic town⠀
in a remote part of Scotland.⠀
Fresh air, green, hygiene, and silence.⠀
I wasn’t used to them.⠀

If I cut here, I can bury my demons.⠀
If I mould this into a butterfly, I can also⠀
mould my wishful thinking into realities.⠀
Or I could just mix the colours⠀
and make a rainbow ball for my daughter.⠀
We could play and forget everything.⠀
I didn’t know I loved her playdough,⠀
until it turned therapeutic.⠀
Rolling it between my palms was⠀
a kind of meditation I could gladly follow.⠀

I wished I could travel back in time⠀
and laugh away in all my morose yesterdays,⠀
as the joke, he cracked settled in my blood⠀
and cleansed my soul of its worries.⠀
I didn’t know I loved laughter,⠀
until he stood next to me and we morphed⠀
everyday stupidity into peals of laughter.⠀
Our stomachs hurt, but our hearts calmed.⠀
Now I can laugh my head off,⠀
and hope that he laughs at the same time,⠀
though we are geographically distanced.⠀

©Kavya Janani. U


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Dreamy Poet