Love is my word of the year

For V

Dating demands a vocabulary
that is constantly expanding.
I hold the dictionary close. I unlearn
and learn the meaning of ‘love’.
A strong feeling of romantic attraction…

I met him half-way through
2020. He crushes newspapers
in his hands to feed me morsels of
stimulating conversations
multiple times a day.

Words are all we have for
we live over 40 km away.
The Oxford Dictionary chose
over 40 words this year.
Love is my word of the year.

His fingers are bars of dark chocolate.
My mouth waters, I’m a few shades lighter.
India discriminates based on skin colour.
We talk about this and everything that’s wrong
with the world. Racism, child labour,

moral policing…and then what’s right
with us and why we are perfect for each other.
Love is my word of the year.
I guard this word with all my might.
I slip it under my pillow cover

Love is my word of the year

so no one can find it. I whisper
that even though there are many words
in the dictionary, it will be my word,
the only one for me. My word for 2021 too
and the years to come.