Love Chose Its Own Chains Poem by Sumita Jetley

Beneath Karachi's silvered skies,
Where the restless sea and silence lie,
Two souls met by fate's decree,
Bound by love, yet longing free.

Zahra stood, the ocean's child,
Her spirit fierce, her heart unfiled.
Azeem, a poet, soft and true,
Dreamed of life in a structured hue.

By the banyan tree where shadows play,
They shared their hearts in a fleeting stay.
She mocked his verses, light and tame,
He sought her fire, untamed by name.

Her chains were fear of losing her way,
His were the roles he could not betray.
They built their love on shifting sand,
Each holding fast to a different strand.

"I cannot be caged, " Zahra confessed,
Her freedom more than love professed.
"I cannot unshackle who I must be, "
Azeem replied, eyes lost at sea.

The waves bore witness to their plight,
Their love a flame, both dim and bright.
Apart they walked, the tide their guide,
Bound by love, yet worlds divide.

Now the banyan stands where they once met,
A monument to a love unmet.
Footprints fade, but legends grow,
Of chains we choose and hearts we show.

So listen close when the winds are high,
And Karachi's waves kiss the starry sky.
You'll hear their whispers, soft and true,
A love unchained, yet bound anew.