Love is what I feel
When I stumble,
And you instantly reach out
To catch me,
Even though you know
I can balance myself,
That I would not fall;
Love is what I feel
When you don’t shrug off,
When I doze off
On your shoulder,
Sitting and watching T.V. with you,
And you don’t say ‘ouch’
When your arm goes numb;
Love is what I feel
When you mark out
Those boring lines
In the financial newspaper
With a marker,
Because you want me
To be aware;
Love is what I feel
When you discuss
A girlie show with me,
Yet again, one more time,
Though you are ready
For a good night’s sleep
After a hectic day;
Love is what I feel
When you like talking to me
Just because I am me,
When you talk without pretention,
Baring your soul to me;
When I am safe in believing
That your dreams and mine
Are ‘our’ dreams;
Love is what I feel
When you don’t laugh
At what I don’t know,
When you respect me
Because I still do what I need to do
Even though I don’t know,
When you turn on
Defensive-protective mode
When something is said to me
That shouldn’t be;
Love is what I feel
When you see
Somewhere, unexpectedly,
That book I wanted,
But never found anywhere,
And you remember
And buy it for me;
Love is what I feel
When you call up
My mother
Without my knowledge,
Just to say ‘Hi’,
And when dad comes on the line,
You say
‘Hey dad, how are you?’
When you know my friends
And my role models by name;
Love is what I feel
When you recognize
Each and every emotion of mine,
When you keep mum
Because you know I will cry,
When you are red
With anger;
Love is what I feel
When I puke my stomach out
When I look like what
Even the cat won’t drag in,
And you say
‘I love you,
‘cos you are the most beautiful
Girl in the world.’
And say it from your heart;
Love is what I feel
When you call up
In the middle of a crazy work day
To say ‘hi sweetie’,
When you want to
Take me out for a moonlight walk,
Because you know
I’ve been at home all day,
When all you want to do is
Sink your face into a pillow
And cry;
Love is what I feel
When you respond
With a ‘love you’
Hastily SMSed in the middle of a meeting,
When I childishly message you
The first two lines
Of the latest love song;
Love is what I feel
When you call up
From work
To ask if I took
Something for the terrible cold
That I have,
Because you know
I forget;
Love is what I feel
When you shush me
When I cry in the middle of the night,
When I’ve had
A nightmare,
When you put your arms
Around me,
And put me
Back to sleep;
Love is what I feel
When you know
I am choked up,
I am numb,
When I need my space,
And you just leave me alone,
Unquestioned;
Love is what I feel
When you drop me at work
And pick me up,
Though it is out of your way,
So that I do not
Bump around
In city buses and autos;
Love is what I feel
When you order a paper masala dosa
So that you can share it with me,
Because you know
I can’t eat a full one,
But love it all the same,
And it is not the kind of thing
You exactly like to have;
Love is what I feel
When you tell me
Flat on my face,
When I need to change
Something about myself,
For my very own good,
And then you tell me,
‘I’m sorry’;
Love is what I feel
When you make do
With sandwiches,
Because I haven’t cooked,
Because I had to
Catch a deadline;
Love is what I feel
When you scream at me
For shifting that furniture,
Because you know
It wouldn’t do much good
For my back;
Love is what I feel
When your heart melts
Every time you see me cry,
And it shows on your face,
Though my troubles
You can choose
To ignore;
Love is what I feel
When you call me up
To say you’ve closed that
All-important deal,
First hand,
Because you know I care;
Love is what I feel
When you keep mum,
Though irked by my habit
Of keeping my room
Thoroughly unorganised,
Cluttered,
Because you know that’s just
The way I am,
You don’t judge,
And don’t hold it
Against me;
Love is what I feel
In all the little things you do
For me,
Unselfishly,
And each time
I fall in love with you
All over again.
PS: Sorry if that was a tad too long. Just wanted to write about what is ‘unconditional love’ in my eyes, and a lot of things came to mind. :)
