A poignant love poem, laced with gentle protest of an argumentative beloved, by Prof. Nandini, exclusively for Different Truths.

“Please do not understand me too quickly.” ~ Andre Gide

Love! You can have all of me or none of me, right?
I said with persuasion, conviction, and delight. 

You sounded lost, “love is a fine art. Can we master it?”
Then I was obligated, “let’s not subvert it
by mastering the love-art. Let me be a disciple, a devotee
at the altar of love, let my love fight fit.”

Just because I am not so perfect 
it does not make me any less worthy of love, my love!
Maybe life made you trust otherwise
perhaps it made you believe that you have to be perfect
in order to be loved. But doesn’t it really matter that
I simply love all of you? Just every bit!

Even the fragments of you that you may believe 
too murky, too reprehensible.
Every wound, every blemish, every inadequacy in you
I discount; for me just to love you is adequate.
Remember? Once I thought I was too hurt, too broken
to be loved until you happened! 

And then you claimed, you are rather lackadaisical
when it comes to the matters of the heart. 
You were anxious, “the brighter you shine, the faster
you may burn. Let me guard you against burning.
I am your Halley's Comet.”

“Like the Halley’s Comet, in your life I am the periodical comet.
Halley’s has an orbital period of about 76 years,
its obligatory reappearance having been predicted by 
Edmond Halley. It was first chronicled in 240 BC and
last appeared in 1986 and will next come home in 2061.”

“Turning and turning, wandering in the orbit, 
I am the nomad, I am peripatetic itinerant 
I too have to come back to you without any go-belly-up.
This life, waiting for me is your predicament
and coming back to you, my only longing, only want.”

You said it! All of it.
Then we had our share of comfortable silences with my tears.
Still, you had your never-ending tales of anxiety.
And still I whispered, “my Halley’s Comet, thank you for being so perfect
so that I don’t have to be! Take my love as you like it.”

Picture Design by Anumita Roy, Different Truths

Prof. Nandini Sahu

Prof Nandini Sahu is the Vice Chancellor of Hindi University, West Bengal, and a celebrated Indian English poet and Amazon’s Best-selling Author. Formerly a Professor and Director at IGNOU, New Delhi, she is the author/editor of 23 books. A double Gold-Medalist, her accolades include a Gold Medal from the Vice President of India for English Studies, the Michael Madhusudan Academy Award-2024, and the Tagore Samman-2025. Her expertise spans Folklore, Hindu Studies, Comparative Literature, and Critical Theory.