Another kind of Love Potion

I started to write a love pantoum, but then I deleted the page

Because I remembered how you poured me some bitter wine and I drank it

Without questioning why I'm still staying with you.

Instead, I'm writing a farewell to our relationship that had me paralyzed

When I was hooked on your bitter wine, while months and months passed by

And I still refused to take the antidote. I must have looked like a fool.

My friends warned me about your hypocrisy!

They brought me back to reality while I was blindly defending you.

My sisters offered me the antidote, but I refused to take it (what a joke!)

And when I finally spoke up, you told me how I had changed –

See, I’m the only one to blame. I chose to participate in your wicked game

Because I was too scared to be alone.

And while you kept telling me how I’ve changed (oh what a shame!),

I now realize how I was the one living in captivity.

Now I shout liberty! Look how I scream liberty!

Since our roads departed, I started to glow!

You had me convinced that you were the one living in captivity,

While you kept addressing me with toxic hostility.

My eyes were closed to news I had chosen to ignore.

I should have followed my dreams while I was wasting my time chasing you.

Now that I’m finally cleansed of fatal crudity,

I will publish my book, move to London to make my dreams come true.

Cross my name off your long list of victims,

I will no longer be thinking about you!

Now that I finally got rid of your hurtful hostility,

I'm writing this for my sisters, who forgave me repeatedly,

They shared their bread with me. They broke it in two.

Now we laugh together about how I could’ve ever loved you.

I dedicate this poem to my sisters, wishing them prosperity.

And while you keep bathing yourself in pointless hostility,

I will rise like a phoenix who survived your brutality.

Look how happy I am without you!

- Elena Natroshvili

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ABOUT THE WRITER

The 24-year-old Georgian Poet, Elena Natroshvili, explores the themes of feminism, gender, and mental health in the English language. Due to her deep-rooted connection to her native land and upbringing in a Western country, Elena's poems also thematise the topics of heritage and migration. In her latest project, "16minutepoetry", she's challenged herself to create verse within a set time frame.

Instagram/WordPress/Twitter: 16minutepoetry

NERAK on Instagram: @nerakwrite