Words can move to an unimaginable degree. The way they are placed, the way they are said and written can excite us, impress us or completely depress us. From Moby Dick’s opening line of “Call me Ishmael” to Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn” in Gone with the Wind, words, and the way they are presented to us, can build or shatter worlds.

Poetry, then, is, solely, about using your own emotion to find words that, then, goes on to touch someone else. And what can be more poetic than the idea of love itself?

Abhash Jha centres his poem on this very idea of love, its ability to feel fulfilling and to complete. Jha’s poetry reflects on the worlds we build around the people we fall in love with, the longing and the complete bliss that we experience in a relationship and the little idiosyncrasies of a person that are so precious to us. Jha’s poetry is short, sweet and reminiscent of the feelings many of us felt in that first love. The one where we fell head over heels, uncaring of what the world, outside, was like.

But love is not always blissful, is it? It’s not like the pictures that the movies painted, with every story ending in marital bliss. With love, comes heartbreak.

Kirti Chauhan begins her soulful flow by touching on these things, often left out in favour of the more grandiose side of love. She opens by stating how believing that the person, on the other end of the relationship, has forgotten the love that they once held for each other has helped her move on. A multi-faceted discourse, through spoken poetry, follows, where Chauhan brushes on the idea of how we, sometimes, put our own dignity at stake to preserve a relationship and how that same relationship, once broken, becomes haunting when we are trying to pick up the shattered pieces of our dignity.

I can’t be the only one who craves for the old school romance. Sure, current hook-up culture might seem progressive in a way. And the modern-day romance has its own charm too. But nothing beats old school, right? Oh, to send long handwritten letters to your lover, confessing your feelings! Serenading them at night with delightful verses of Hindi poetries!

But in today’s world, amidst the modern era of love, people exist who want their love stories to be those tales. Goonj Chand writes a heart-warming poem on this. Simply questioning if that old school romance still exists.

Her poem “Wo 90s Wala Pyaar Aaj Bhi Hota Hai Kya?” was uploaded on G Talks on the 8^th of January 2021. A time of shy laughs and giggles, shayaris and stolen glances. Her words phrased just right to make it one of the Hindi poetries that make you travel through time and feel everything she is feeling.

Dreaming about love and falling in love is like a fairytale. But, more often than not, finding your perfect match takes time. And through that journey we inevitably get our hearts broken. And we change. Our experiences and memories force us to change.

Amandeep Singh recites a very raw poem about how love changed him, broke him. “Tumhara Naam” is one of those Hindi poetries where every verse digs deeper. You start feeling the words in your heart.

Heartbreak hurts and it’s difficult to forget. Even though he might not remember all the marks on her body, but he does remember how the light fell on her face and struck his heart. He’s okay most days but hearing her name hurts. “Tumhara Naam” is a poem written by about this.

Stories have a major impact on us. Whether they are poetic narrations or movies, words have the ability to melt your insides. Maybe it’s the way we all unite under the same string of emotions.

Kopal Khanna, the founder of ‘Tape a Tale’ phrased it, “Stories and poems strike an emotional chord that’s unparalleled. Its immeasurable the positive impact words can on someone when they come from an honest place.”

If you ask me, I think poetry is the most impactful. In those 4-10 minutes, you go through a plethora of emotions. Yet, it makes sense. Now, love. Love is poetic. While poetry has the ability to make you cry, smile and laugh and all at the same time; poems on love makes your heart flutter, and your eyes well up as a single drop of tear slides down your cheek.

Maybe there’s so many poetries and stories on love, simply because we try so hard to understand it. But, we always fail. Yet, while it’s different for all of us, we empathize with each other’s stories.

Jidnya Sujata, starts her poetic tale of love by explaining the two types of love. While One that gives you strength and the other that transforms into our pride. She narrates the tale of falling in love, when she least expected it, with a man she never dreamt of being with. Yet it happened. And, she shared some of the best moments of her life. And then, she discovered a third type of love – a love that just happens. No questions asked.

As she says later, “Love is something that doesn’t need to be grand or extraordinary. And I feel love is something that doesn’t end. It just gets channelized differently- and that changes our expectations from it.”

Love Poetry on unrequited feelings is tormenting. Although, unrequited love is just pure agony, but it is also something we all go through in our lives. No matter the age, gender or sexual orientation – we all have fallen for someone and cried ourselves to sleep.

But you see, maybe they just don’t feel the same about you. Maybe earlier they did, and now they don’t. As much as you want to hate them for it, should you really? We can’t control our feelings. We don’t get to choose who we love. The best thing for us to do is simply accept the harsh realities and try to move on.

These love poems discussed below, revolve around this pain and its acceptance.

Our first poem is by Rohit Kishor (@rohit__kishor) titled, ‘Mai Isiliye Tumhe Message Nahin Karta’. In the span of a minute, Rohit narrates a tale of falling in love and having expectations from the other person. Only to be left disappointed when you start to realize you simply don’t hold the same value in their lives, as they did in yours.

‘Bas Tumhari Aadat Nahi Lagni Chahiye thi’ is another hard-hitting piece by Abhash Jha (@abhash19). His love poetry is so resonating, it feels like he’s narrating your story. ‘Tum khud aaye aur apne aap chale bhi gaye,’ sums up the conceptualization behind this piece.

Our last poetic piece is called ‘Pyaar Hisson Mai Milega’ by Ashish Bagrecha. Unlike other poems, his love poetry is about telling the truth. He, through his words, encourages you to keep trying – accepting and giving love, no matter what. There’s something painfully wholesome about this poem. Reassuringly, he says you will find love, but always in pieces.

Poetry is an awe-inspiring medium of storytelling. It evokes strong emotions, brings tears to your eyes or simply a small smile.

Pallavi Mahajan performed a piece, “Phirse Mohabbat Ho Sakegi?” which is now uploaded on the YouTube channel of ‘Stage’. The language transitions smoothly from English to Hindi to English again. She narrates her journey of finding love and marriage. She brings up some important issues that women have to face after reaching a certain age – when society questions their marital status. Being single is looked down upon and proposals for arranged marriages end up in rejections. But every story has a happy ending, so did hers.

After laughing about her failed attempts at online dating She proceeds to talk about how she found love. Someone who she understands and someone who understands her. With whom her relationship is not superficial and who accepts her for all that she is.

Stage uploaded a poetic piece by Nayab Midha – “Kya Ek Mulaqat Kaafi Hai, Jeevan Bhar Ke Saath Ke Liye?” In a soothing rhythmic tune, Nayab Midha questions the roots of arranged marriage as she explains her dreams and hopes from marriage. She explains her need to be loved, understood and appreciated for being her true self. And how that can’t happen without the time for conversations. Her piece portrays her expectations from the groom, none of which can be fulfilled just by one look before the marriage.

Her piece will make you smile, maybe laugh a little, but also make you question the deep-rooted traditions in our society.