Love

By Ananya Manglik

One had a heart of stone,

Another cold as ice.

Love sent roots through the stone,

Love melted the ice.

And then she used the water to grow

The roots into a tree.

One had a soul sharp as knives,

Another’s was trapped in a cage.

Love warmed the knives,

And used the molten metal to fashion a key

And she opened the cage.

One hid in the shadows, drenched in hopelessness

Another burnt out to ashes.

Love rekindled the flame

Whose light chased away the shadows and

Shone down hope.

One built an impenetrable wall for herself,

Another had a soul full of cracks.

Love broke down the wall,

And used the rubble to fill the cracks.

One was alone, separated from the world by a bottomless chasm.

Another’s heart was wrapped in barbed wire.

Love unravelled the wire,

And used it to make a tightrope over the chasm till the other side.

Because that’s how love is.

Not easy to get across, impossible to cross without getting hurt,

But it was still a path, a possibility.

You just had to find someone who was willing to try.

By Ananya Manglik