Love

By Shreyas Raman

Love: the generous orange sunset, warming hearts to gold with compassion,

That suffuses the deep blue ocean depths, uplifting souls devoid of passion.

An autogenic elixir, flowering stubborn even in chasms of grief,

That mends the corrosion of toxic hate, subduing the fear to cease.

Love saves all 155 passengers first, from the frigid Hudson River,

Love unites people across the Atlantic, to stand with Nice against mass terror.

Love builds devotion to righteous figures, who struggle for our understanding and change,

Love blossoms from tiny acts of kindness, that pollinate far out of range.

Love moves a teacher to take 10 bullets for their students, a selfless substitute of vitality,

Love breaks the wall between East and West, rejoicing in the strength of harmony.

Love binds the human chain, shielding immigrants from unjust extradition.

Love fuels the courage of the German brother, who helped Jesse Owens surpass competition.

Love remembers ancient favors, shielding the Kabiljos from the Nazi hunt.

Love brings moments of peace to feuding armies, singing carols and playing football on the front.

Love builds the haven of ‘Shanti Nagar’, to shelter outcasts and shadows with leprosy,

Love seeks dialogue through contrasting perspectives, going beyond the heresy.

Love forgoes its own attire to protect kangaroos and koalas from smelting fire,

Love can kindly forgive or slog with passion, surpassing oppression and shyer.

Love opens the youth to the humble truth -- that every person is equal,

Love is the mould that strengthens our soul, the virtue that makes us all human.

By Shreyas Raman