1. Your wishes and my words on
Opposite skewed windowsills.
2. The wind and the wave froth and spray
Over the shores.
3. The bird and the bee stalk and stare
Over each flower.
4. Fearless nights and phaseless moon
Over a dark though glittering ocean.
5. Whispered stories and unechoed songs
Over a ghazal and jaambhari shyam.
6. Worn out filigree syllables and articulate anecdotes
Held hands with trembling voices.
7. My mind’s chatoyant seas with your angelic hues
Over simmering oolong tea.
8. Your braided hair with my painted body
Over an hour-long foreplay.
9. Your pirouette dance and my whirling dervishes
Painted over a Sufi dream.
10. Your illusions with my hallucinations
Over an ice cream-filled rainbow sky.
11. Between fire and ghee
Over the yagna as the gods please.
12. Between my petrichor and your skin
When your rain falls upon my words.
13. Your rebirth and my new beginning
When our eyes met, and souls stirred.
14. Your free frocks of freedom and hidden sunshine
When peals of your laughter meet my smile.
15. Your love-scented candles with my breezy poetry
On lavender fields laced with our promises.
16. Between the waft of a flute from a sacred cowherd
And the damsel dancer near the riverbank.
17. When my hands play with your sighing hair
On my heaving chest.
18. When the blanket covers your mutated ears
And we see the moon rise.
19. When the early morning’s warmth mixes with
Our cupped hands over coffee.
20. Between the crucified son of man and the kneeling
prayer in an old wooden church.
21. When a butterfly wing brushed against your cheek
Just before my kiss goodbye.
22. Between the night and the nightingale’s early morning song
As the sun rises.
23. Between your bosom’s fragrance and my lips
As we make love yet again.
24. When a mother nudges her infant
As he/she takes the first stride.
25. Between the kiss that heals a wound
And the smile that blooms on your face.
26. Before you open my eyes, you’ll hear me.
What feelings arouse.
27. When I bring my words for your soul.
And honesty knows the truth.
28. Your words that I want to water your soul with.
And your words fill assurance in my being.
29. When your blood flows out
And covers my chest of memories.
30. Between our past lives speak to us.
Reminding us our forgotten voices and unnamed journeys.
31. When you touch me as if I am a sacred altar,
Our love will be a home for your prayers.
32. When I touch you without hesitation.
And the universe heals in your gentle caress.
33. When love is our better guide than the world around.
And we walk together.
34. Between your otherworldly blind love
And my left feet dancing.
35. When the snow and dew argued
On the leaves of the cherry tree.
36. Between the time between two notes
And the pause required to gather the right words.
37. Between your cherry blossom lips
And your scarf darker than me.
38. Between my favorite breakfast and your favorite dinner
The day that passes by like a stream of consciousness poem.
39. It is in these conversations that I find warmth through my day.
40. It is in these conversations you find safety in your stride.
41. Let’s speak from our heart as today’s your birthday, our new beginning.
