THE OTHER SIDE OF VALENTINE

The Other Side of Valentine
By Omonike Odi

This year, I dedicate my valentine's
piece not to the market segment that
February 14th has become branded and commercialized for, but to the
lovers it ignores.
To the lovers who got stuck on the way
and unable to figure it out, gave up
and parted ways.
To the hearts stuck in reverse praying a
lost love back home.
To the newcomer who has found
himself in a virgin place of vulnerability.
To the fearful, afraid to take the
plunge.
To the unprepared shocked that so
hard a thing as love would be
demanded of them.
To the one who has been there and
done that, and has now taken form in a
cold heart banging the door firmly and
finally on love.
No I do not ignore the lover who is
folded in a nurturing embrace where
she has found her heart's resting place,
for I completely understand her. I know
her joy, I muse at her abandon, I
understand her smile and I recognise
her rich laughter, no I don't ignore her,
not at all! Yes, I see her and the world
sees her.
But what about the one who hides what lies beneath, what must not be
known, what must not be seen? The one who scolds her desire like it's
a bastard child, turning her face adamantly away from it as though she
was raped by love and now she hates its child- this bundle of
weakening emotions that remind her of hungry thrusts that took and
took and took.

I am writing for the disappointed who
thought that love will be the missing
link that makes life complete.
I am writing for the true lover who
came to love on a level ground and
gave it 100% but found something
else. Although it was called love, it
manifested itself as selfish and one-
sided.
I am writing for the soul like a bruised
reed bent in the wind, praying her
broken heart won't break. No I do not
ignore the lover who is secure in a love
that understands, that accommodates,
and does her no wrong.
But what about the one who found
herself ravaged like a house without
gates. The one attacked by enemy
forces banging against her walls of
defense. With one last heave they
reach her deepest, and all she hears is
the eerie harmony of voices; his pitch
with stolen pleasure, hers only cry,
tears a last defense.
This season, I write acknowledging the
women on both sides of the valentine
dream. For the woman experiencing
the phantom and the woman
experiencing the fantasy of valentine.
For the woman ensconced and the
woman scorned. For the woman fallen
in love and the woman fallen out of
love.
At the end of the day, it is not about
how we have been loved but about how we have loved – wrongly or rightly;
poorly or richly; sparingly or
generously.
For all the lovers out there, do have a
Happy Valentine's day!
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Omonike Odi is a freelance writer and
a media content provider on all media
platforms. Read more from her on her
blog at http://omonaikee.blogspot.com
or follow her on twitter for daily
inspirational quotes at https://
twitter.com/omonaikee or contact her –
omonaikee@yahoo.com.

Source: Bella Naija

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