I love, don't I!

 Tell me, what does it take to love you, really?
 Just a sky? Or perhaps a river? Do I need mountains too?
 You know, I need none of those things.
 I don't even need excuses anymore!
  
 Say you don't come to me
 one day. Would I then not read poetry?
 Would I leave the blue sari unworn, even in the rain?
 Would I no longer hum your name to any tune?
 Would my anklets lie forgotten in some corner?
 Would no droplet of water cling to my earrings?
 Would I not touch grass with vermillion on my feet?
 Would my kohl take a holiday?
 Would even the dot on my forehead go into hiding?
  
 Nonsense! You see, none of that would happen!
 Everything would remain just as before!
 If you don't come, if I don't feel your touch—
 so what if it's like that! What difference does it make?
 You are still mine!
 I don't need to have you
 the old way. I love you, after all!
 When I love, I keep you in my mind, bind you to my soul.
 Where could you possibly go?
  
 When you come to mind, I drift somewhere else entirely,
 I stop thinking about myself,
 the cooking burns on the stove, the house stays messy.
 The flower pot remains dirty, no water reaches the roots...
 Do you think this is what happens?
 You're wrong! Truly, it's not like that!
 When you don't come, you come even more!
 When I don't touch you, I touch you even more!
 To think of you, to call your name, nothing else—
 I just need a tiny excuse. And it always comes, it always comes
 through some reason or other, in the familiar tune of familiar paths!
  
 Listen! I love you!
 I love you! Won't you give me just a little touch?
 Half a caress? Will you give me a bunch of roses?
 Will you give me afternoon when the sun smiles?
 Will you give me mist-kissed evenings?
 Will you give me sky-full moonlight?
 Will you let me stay in starlight?
 Will you let me place my hands in both your hands?
 Will you let me see you with both eyes filled?
 Casually, will you give me just a fragment of thought?
 Sometimes will you give me a poem of love?
  
 Give me a dozen bangles.
 Give me one whole morning!
 The claim—you can give that later!
 Just give me one excuse!
 Let me call you by name!
 Let me breathe in your scent!
 When you're angry, scold me all you want!
 I love you—I'll understand everything!
  
 I want one intimate night!
 I want the terrible hard rules of forgetting!
 I want dreams bound to my ribs!
 I want the nor'wester storm!
 I want one burst of rain!
 When spring comes, I want fire!
 I want the color of mustard fields!
 I want winter's gentle sun!
 I want your terrible absence!
 I want the gaze of black clouds!
 I want firefly sparks!
 I want the address of sky-homes!
 I want the river's tremendous waves!
 I want burning in the sand's heart!
 I want bees in lotus flowers!
 I want your love-soaked voice!
  
 Are you frightened?
 Listen, I'm telling you! All this is backwards talk!
 What's the point of wanting so much? I love you!
 I just want to live thinking only of you!
 Do you understand, silly? I just want my 'you'!
 If you remain, everything will remain!
 Even if nothing else remains, I want to die holding onto you!