My Love, My Foe

Jaihoon’s verses contemplating love’s duality, longing, and the agony of separation, seeking resolution and understanding.

Those who have sense
And not lost in any craze

Have said-

‘The one who loves: the beloved
The one who hurts: the enemy
Both are never the same
On their prey, both cannot claim!’

Were you the one
Who blessed me with love?
Were you the one
Who such agony gave?

Hey the pair of my heart!
Hey the coolness of my eyes!

Your memories lasting years:
Blown like a tent
By the storm of separation
Lasting just a month

So severe was the heat of your want
I am no longer that once-fertile land

Rains of joy shall dry in a moment
The thirst sucks all from beneath

Dream is a window
To see in realty one’s wishes
But even in dream
I am robbed of your face

Ah! My senses faint
Although in youth I ascend

Forgive if my talk
Transcends reason
Hold me not captive
For acts of treason

Reins of my mind:
No longer with me
Tears down my cheek
No longer in my command

Hey my beloved,
Who bathed me in love!
Hey my enemy,
Who wounded my heart!

Draw closer,
To your lover and victim.
Resolve my pain,
Or I shall avenge.

Be kind to this broken-hearted
Be generous to this soul-shattered

Time within the walls of my room
Crawls like a hesitant worm

Every moment I count:
When shall you be imminent?

Yet, my count extends:
Your absence abounds

Call my cry as you please-
Love, craze,
Possessive, Selfish
Or a helpless lover’s weakness!

Times five or more I pray,
Yet, the night pains as the day
You too in your duas, say:
May my love’s victim alive stay

Nov 2005. Edit March 2024