What does it mean to love, let alone to love well?
And whom—or what, for that matter?
After all, we say love countless times every day:
I love a good laugh now and then;
I love my steak rare;
I love Friday nights out with my buddies;
I love travelling;
I love your haircut;
I love those floral twist-back tops she wears;
I love that song;
I love the latest book by [author of your choice here];
I love my [pet or person of your choice here];
I love myself;
I love you.
Honestly, it’s as confusing as dying
over everything in life.
Tag: love
You will always regret something
If I were to punch anyone in the face,
it would be the one who said I should live my life
without regrets. What kind of advice is that?
The only way to follow it is to never be born;
otherwise, you will always regret something,
even if it’s the life you haven’t lived.
Collateral damage
It starts with skipping the shower on the odd occasion.
After a while, showering every other day becomes a habit.
Then you realise that washing the whole body once a week
was actually good enough for your forefathers, but since you
are not religious, you end up settling for doing it fortnightly.
You even come up with quite an elaborate explanation
—something about environmental awareness and the like.
But, I guess, personal hygiene is not the worst casualty
of the lockdown-induced remote work, online shopping,
and heartbreak.
There’s no way this is the fever
So, here I am—one moment I’m soaking wet
under the sun hidden behind the dark clouds
that just so happened to have decided to sweat cats and dogs all day long,
listening to old men, older than me, who sing
about past loves and how regrets are part of life,
trying to reach the long-forgotten tranquillity
of a bookworm—and the next thing I know, your eyes are wide open
and your girlish face is lit up with impish glee
because of something I said.
There’s no way this is the fever from that old sonnet,
because like chickenpox or measles, once we had it,
we were supposed to gain lifelong immunity—or so I thought—and yet,
all the symptoms suggest otherwise, which makes me wonder
if there is any point in agonising over the physician
leaving me to my own devices if nothing ever changes
regardless of whether I follow his prescriptions or not.
After all, I’m about to be called an old man myself,
old enough to sing my own songs.
Englishwoman in New York
Have you ever heard of an Englishman in New York? I have
met a perfectly extraordinary Englishwoman in New York
—a girl, really—named Carrie Pilby, and she was a character
of fiction, nevertheless as real as any of the women in my life
nowadays. Now I have a good excuse not to meet anyone else
until the next cosy film night on the sofa.
Black and white
Why are black-and-white pictures called black-and-white pictures
when there is so much colour in them—so much unadulterated life?
At least the gown and tuxedo look better in them, and the wrinkles
become refined, as do the tears. And the trifling details fade away,
like the ones we hoped to capture in them.
My love is as a fever
There is nothing better than romantic love
if you make a living selling tickets to Paris and Venice
or intend to do some fine coin on Audrey Hepburn films.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Think of the more sinister players,
like the diamond cartel feeding us with the myth of the symbol of love
—the engagement ring. Or have you ever contemplated the absurdity
of Valentine’s Day? After all, th’ uncertain sickly appetite needs nothing
of the sort. Elderflowers and an Epsom salt bath are Granny’s best
remedies for fever.
Perfectly imperfect
I was born with a broken heart—perfectly imperfect
with every blood-stained handkerchief and every letter
from my solicitor—but that’s probably still better
than being heartless, I guess.
Even a curmudgeon gets nostalgic sometimes
They’ve never had more than a kiss,
and even that would be a stretch.
Besides, I knew where this was going
from the first moment I spotted them
sneaking down Back Wynd.
She wore makeup as if it made her life more tangible.
He was nothing short of perfectly forgettable.
Together, they couldn’t be a better future addition
to the divorce statistics. And yet, despite everything,
at that moment, I wished them a glimmer of a chance.
Perhaps I was being nostalgic and probably a tad jealous.
After all, I’ve been there once, and nothing
has been more tangible since.








