Love, That Word

By Vanshi Desai

Late summer night,

I’m standing with him under a streetlight

And I’ve come to realize just how madly I’m in love with him,

And I have this urge to run away with him on a whim.

There is a melancholy in his eyes, a desire to be wanted

But I don’t think he realizes that parties are thrown just so he could be invited.

And god, everybody wants him, I mean who would not?

One look at him and I can’t form a coherent thought

He lights up a cigarette, “smoking kills you,” I say after a while.

“Love is deadlier,” he says and I can feel myself smile.

Out of everyone I could have chosen,

I had to fall for this one

By Vanshi Desai