Give Me a Ten !

A decade?

A span of time.

Taken for your maiden name,

Saved in his phone

To change to “Oye.”

A period when you realise

You can be furious with him

For a minute 

And the very next moment

You’re debating what to cook for dinner,

Or whether to order in and finish that series.

When you’re no longer embarrassed

By the snoring,

Or by sharing those tees of his

That you got so comfortable with

Long after the pregnancy phase.

When just a glance or a stare

Can convey volumes

And save time and energy.

When you learn to interpret hmms and uh hmms

With incredible accuracy.

You’ll be amazed at how many types actually exist.

When he learns to dance to the rhythm of your hormones,

And you’re annoyed

Because he’s already got the hang of it!

And somewhere along the way,

You start to notice that 

Apart from the looks 

You’ve successfully passed on

the “most annoying habit” gene

To each of your offspring.

Despite the positive thoughts

And good-music routines during pregnancy,

Now both of you have

Two versions of the same character

Under the same roof.

When you catch yourself commenting

on newlyweds 

“Ah! Kids these days” 

And then freeze in horror:

‘Did I just sound like my mom?’

How you wish you could just run away,

Leaving those bundles of stress behind.

A girl’s vacay? Solo travel?

You ponder… but silently sigh

When none happens for real.

There’s love, there’s hate.

There’s anger, there’s fate.

There’s comfort, there’s cribbing.

There’s chaos, there’s calm.

Then there’s that, there’s this…

You’ve been at the crossroads,

Laughed at your choices,

Ridiculed your decisions,

Guffawed at the craziness,

Sighed at the madness 

You’ve done it all.

Ah!

The list could go on and on

You find yourself so attuned

To this life 

Your safe space

Of chaos, of comfort,

Of what-not…

The point is…

If I were to hide a corpse,

There’s no way I would do it alone.

If I were to run away,

There’s no way I would leave

Without asking you to search for my phone.

If I were to cheat on you,

There’s no way I’d make that special reel for him,

Without asking you for a music suggestion.

You, my love,

Are my partner in crime

For life.

There is simply no living without you !

You make the whole mess of life feel just perfect.

Here's to a decade and many more.