Regard

Regard

You slid into my mind
Not an attraction
But as an erudite mind
Such a one
Who offers refuge

A mirror that sees my soul
Grants asylum
Shining shield of
Protection
Judgment sheathed

Love
should never be confused
With deep regard

Love
Sunshine of mind
Tale longing for
Togetherness
Linking trust to
Romance

Regard is not
Lust
sensory delight and
greed to devour
The object of adoration
Without mercy

Regard can be
Lust for a mind
To find its containment
A nurturing
Shelter

Admiration
Intellectual empathy
Romance possible
only in mezzanine
Of a greater dwelling.

But dwellers mistook it.

Thinking  themselves
An Infinite Taj mahal
of eternal love
They built false monument to each other

Buried in baroque flourishes and ornate arcades
Plinths of paradoxical pretences
They were lost
Labyrinths of logical deception

They forgot
to explore the mansion
Of self
before other
Honesty was lost in the
Concord of
Fiction and fact

Love
Which is courage
open declaration
Faith
Which Trusts
Births
Romance
Which revels in
Union of senses

Such is not
Regard
Which dwells
Serene undiluted
In placid hearts
An understanding
Of points of origin
Vistas
Possibilities
Nothing need be
Said.

You're never.
A mistake.
To be erased.

But
The page has been turned.
To
Fresh beginnings
My friend.

All rights reserved
(c) Amrita Valan 2014