Lovers in the Night

art by Livs Sun, words by Bhavya

two hearts estranged 

equate to 200 beats per minute

lighting the alleyway through streams of smoke

from purse to mouth to ground

burnt stories reminisce on silent lips

brick walls bear to witness the unholy matrimony

the tarnishing of samskara

if only death do them apart

stolen hours grey the hairs

generations of fables etched into the hippocampus

eyes oozing venomous affections

shattered vases echo through the barren street

decapitated rose buds adorn broken china

remnants of passion laid bare between silk sheets

amongst high rises twinkling brighter than the stars

of desolate night skies painted blue with misery

fate’s parable bode alluring incompatibility in decaying lungs

every breath an embodiment

of false returns and painstaking lies

to love and cherish

in sickness and in health

bound and unbound by samsara’s script

beads of the mangal sutra scattered across the street

bodies from universes far apart

the seas to drown out toxic fumes which

continue to intertwine wandering souls

across seven lives