What if Summer Falls in Love with Winter?

-Tekhingla Sangtam

What if summer, all radiant and wild
With sunlight tangled in her hair and warmth in her breath,
Looks across the year’s turning shoulder
And finds winter-quiet as snowfall-
Standing in silver silence?

She, who speaks with such sweetness
And smells faintly of ripe mangoes and salt air,
Her touch is warm and certain. She does not hesitate.
And pauses mid afternoon, to watch his pale fingers;
Stitch frost into the morning.

Bold in color, her eyes hold the shimmer of heat raising
From the open roads.
Her blazing heart softens, and melts like wax
in a cathedral of ice; with just a glimpse
Of his face and voice-

Winter, low as wind through pine and still
Feels a thaw in his ribs, at the sight
of the golden lady.
A shy drip of warmth, tracing the corners of his guarded sky.

Would their meeting be a storm-
Thunder kissing snowflakes,
Would it be warm and gentle?
Or rain writing poems on frozen lakes?

And though perhaps the world would call it impossible,
But love does not need permission;
From clocks or calendars.
And together they would become spring-
A fragile, trembling promise
That warmth and cold
Can bloom from the same sky.

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT

Tekhing Sangtam is a graduate with a major in English from Norman Putsure College, Chumoukedima. Currently, she is an aspirant preparing for state government examinations. She has a deep love for reading and writing, finding joy in getting lost in stories and creating worlds of her own – an experience she describes as a happy escape. For her, writing serves as a meaningful outlet to express feelings that are often difficult to say out loud.