I Love You
By: Jehangir Saleh
Written: April 6, 2003

Never, have I found a lover
Instead I keep a marigold flower
Trapped inside an oriental pot
With the silver Chinese inscription: “I Love You”
I held together our one sided relationship
I, the caregiver, nurturer, housewife, maid
Fed, cleaned and read to her
In return
My only request was that she stay
With me, alive
However:
In accordance with natural law
As beauty must frail
Hope shatter
Age fade into time
She died, slowly
With her I waited
And witnessed each petal
Float away her life
She lived twenty-seven days
I aged immensely

Tonight drips dark turquoise
I am soaking
Burning marigold incense
Trapped beside myself
Holding dead love
In my hand, an oriental coffin
With the silver Chinese inscription: “I Love You”
I am broken
The pot remains