Gin & Love

Three pegs down, the night’s a blurry song,  

The gin hums secrets I’ve known all along.  

Streetlights flicker like old flame confessions,  

And damn it—your name still wrecks my direction.  

We met like a midnight mistake, too bold, too bright,  

A spark in the dark, a thief in the night.  

You laughed like a sin I’d gladly commit,  

And I swore—God, I swore—I’d never forget.  

We were a love story drunk on itself,  

Chasing our shadows, burning for help.  

We kissed like promises no one keeps,  

We fought like storms, wild and deep.  

Then life did what life always does,  

Turned love to an echo, ‘was’ instead of ‘us.’  

I packed my dreams, you packed your pride,  

We let go, but never really untied.  

Now here I sit, in a city too cold,  

Chasing a future, but tripping on old.  

You’re probably back home, wearing that grin,  

Sipping your chai while I drown in gin.  

And just as I swear, “I’m finally through,”  

My phone buzzes—  

And it’s you.

- Aditya Dube