Closed my eyes and let the dead come But then you gave your hand and brought light

Forgot that love exists but then I saw your eyes A man in front of me with so much wise

Was it love or was it my last hope?

Almost ended up being Sylvia path but then I saw your face and coped up

Was it love or was it my last chance?

Junior and senior combination? Guardian and learner session

Baby, baby i cried and then saw him in my arms Was it love or was it just comfort?

I didn't know how to breathe in my own breath I saw it coming and my body left on his lap Thy not act like a catharsis but then later became a prisoner of cupid

Was it love or was it an addiction?

Gothic novels all over thy cupboard

While romcom all round my brain Beauty had to end someday

Here we come with another piled up garbage

Was it love or was it just a dream?

It had to rain after a beautiful warm summer Looked outside the window and murmured Seasons had to change, from 12pm to 12am Sylvia Plath once again?

Call the cardiologist? Call the psychiatrist? Or call the "visitor"?

~Ankita Sarkar

Surrounded by crowds, Yet no faces to see. Laughter, giggling, whispers But why couldn't I hear any of them? Was i deaf? Yet cries pierced through the din. The cries grew louder Eyes bleeding, Ears bleeding, senses overwhelmed.

Chill spreading, darkness closing in. Nobody "Nobody" I was there, I was Crawling on the ground Closer to dead

Closer to hell

She saw my downfall, Knew it all. Where is she? Right there Right there, before me, mocking She is me I am she

Bound to something, pulled down Falling into the vivid This darkness, invisible, Yet palpable. Nobody is there. No wait, there is somebody Attached to me, it sees me It does, I see it too.

Couldn't see the sun for a long time But it was all sunny outside Did anything penetrate the numbness? It's better here, it is.

Is it? I am bare breast, but it is pleasant I'm better now, getting better Am I?

~Ankita Sarkar

In the hall, I stood almost still, Staring at the ceiling, my mind adrift. That day, that night, was different, though, A moment that would change the course of life's flow.

Summers weren't my season, or so I thought, But that one summer, oh, it was something caught. A spark, a flame, a love that would ignite, A story I'd hear told, on quiet, winter nights.

"That's how I met your dad," they'd say with a grin, A tale of chance encounters, and love that would win.

He stood at 6'1", she at 5'4", A difference that would make their love story more.

In that grey car, with the front seat belt, A protector of futures, a love that would melt.

Was it the belt, or his hands, that held

tight?

My heart skips a beat, at the thought of that

night.

A melody to my ears, though no music played, A harmony of hearts, that would forever be swayed. Two hours of silence, or so it would seem, A love story unfolding, like a summer dream.

"That's how I met your dad," they'd say once more.