Tomar kotha bhogoban ke bole eshechi

by Mei Love

Mei Love, The Red Rose, acrylic on mixed media paper, 8.5 x 5.5 inches, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.

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TOMAR kotha bhogoban

ke bole eshechi

Mei Love | JUNE 2025 | Issue 46

I told God about you.

Stumbling across pictures of you
feels like reliving our last moments together
in spirals of alternate conceiving.
I hate to suffer in unrequited dreaming.

Looking at you is too painful and yet
I can’t help it because my love,
it’s been too long since i’ve gazed into your eyes or
swooned over your dazzling smile.
The way your lips curl into my favorite flower in full bloom
and the trees raise their arms
against the wind in complete surrender,
I admire the sun and find myself in mercy
of the humanness in loving you.

Amar bhalobasa,
there is a hole
a gap—that refuses to weave the distance
between us.
Does your heart ache, too?
My love, I wish you wouldn’t suffer in silence.
My love, please take care of yourself.

This is the revolution
when lovers are being bombed and separated
I wouldn’t want any colonizer to lay their hands on us.
Let separation be our own decision
Distant or not,
let our love be enough.

Let divine love be a reminder that
our lives are sacred even in war.
Especially during genocide.

Amar bhalobasa,
when the time comes, do not give into hesitation.
Let them know with pride
how much I have loved you.

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Mei Love (they/them) is a bengali, queer, neurodivergent and disabled visionary who resides in the intersections of identity, queerness and ancestral memory. Their work centers around themes of relational repair, transformative justice and revolutionary love as a practice for collective change. They pursued their Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Gargi College, University of Delhi and received their MFA in Visual Studies from the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon. Since then, Mei has been co-creating with artists and writers across the world, and collaborating on cross-continental creative projects.

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