you could accidentally fall in love

ft. a japanese convenience store

over shared confusion

in the dessert aisle,

at 2 a.m.

with too many snacks in hand,

and no rush to leave.

though I don’t even drink chai.

my favorite lie.

I came because evenings

feel softer next to you.

one cutting between two people,

passing trains,

paper cups,

Mumbai glowing amber—

breaking in front of someone

and not being made

to feel broken.

your flight was in twenty minutes.

you stayed anyway.

held my hand.

waited out the storm.

then came back

with ferrero rocher

because you remembered

I liked chocolate.

I think love hides

is because we've seen what a country can look like when it is managed well when people are considered when systems actually serve you

and coming home feels like waking up from that dream

not just missing a place but wondering -

why it can't be ours too

when systems work,

we don't have to bend the rules just to get by

we don't have to rely on diskarte to make things work

because the system already works for us

is a bus ride home after college.

a window seat,

shared earphones,

one youtube video

neither of us is really watching

because we keep talking over it.

outside, the city rushes.

inside, time misses its stop.

and maybe romance

looks less like grand gestures

and more like

“wait, listen to this part.”

if this isn’t a love story,

in the innocent way

you took my freezing feet in your hands

that cold night

the first time I stayed at your place.

you bought your warmest socks,

pulled them on for me

like tenderness

was second nature.

such a small gesture.