With silly smile, playing laptop keyboard
keys, I relay tales of brief, college bliss,
where days, like dry martinis, swiftly pass
lips that pucker for life’s capricious kiss.

My roommates bring joy and warm delight, like
late night Cheeto-fights to break-up study
drudgery - some chaos can counter stress,
though it makes a powdery-orange mess.

While we whirl and preen, when on party scenes,
we've embarked on the classic scholar’s quest.
We're earnest lasses, who pass-up passes -
well, some capitulate - we are human.

But I'm tempered by shame, and remembered
love's flame - and nightly I whisper his name.

So real,
so real.
as I starve to death
to bathe in bliss
burrow to a skin,
a cataclysm.
unraveling a deep blue, calamitous love
holding on to an anchor (and only him could do that)
open it like a gift;
a suture unfurling my pain,
so real and so does he.

Goodnight sweet taste
of yesterday of last night
and three months ago

Your allure lingers on
my fingertips as a dream
upon wake will fade

In memory throughout
the day light wonders
and with that becomes

Like a word one can not
think of when describing
a certain experience

To pass through this
timeline into next year
and be a forgotten name

Which was never known
to begin with so goodnight
and farewell, I say

Thank you for what
it was and now I turn
to something of present

To take my attention
further away and will not
forget about what fits

Do you remember that time where you were late and I was nervous?

The time where you couldn’t leave it 2 days and I made a playlist “drive with summer girl”

When all we did was let our chests let us know what’s best and the world seemed to fall to the wayside like so many complications we refused at the door.

When the only thing that stopped us was the turning of the sun and the expectations of a world not set on allowing the future that is ours.

My plants have never been so well watered than the cups you left around my house, the knowing you were here, the reminder that not everything is measured.

Everything is so yes but now in a pile of maybes that make my heart quiver in the mourning of the future that never has always been.

Like so many poems at 4 AM to help you sleep, to satisfy the I love you in my soul, to hear the comfort in your voice, the “I’m crazy about you baby” in your eyes that leaves me heart and sleeve in a store just waiting for me to leave.

Sarah said “In my dreams, you spin around me so fast I wake up dizzy” It’s a shame we’re both so busy… Busy in the rooms with no seats and an I love you in every goodnight.

Sarah said, “tell me 10 things that are true”.
But I only need 1.

That one thing is you.

Sitting outside in my grandpa’s veranda,
he passed away before I could appreciate his presence;
he wished for me to come see his art;
his garden, a green maze of trees and bushes,
from marigolds and periwinkle to mango trees and whatnot.

As I lay here on the mat,
close to my grandpa, I might gladly add;
seeing the ants crawl up on the periwinkle blooms
and wild butterflies dancing overhead;
with a bulbul on a mango tree branch
and crows chattering near food dumps;
with a sweet scent of marigold in the air
and crickets chirping in the background;
with a mongoose running on the broad fence
and a squirrel eating rice that my grandma kept;
with the sun rays hitting my face through the trees
and a couple of flies hovering beside my novel;
with a moment of pure serenity,
that brings a peaceful calm to this tranquil space;
my heart feels full and my soul at ease.

As a gentle breeze whispers by,
my hair seems to be afloat.
As the fresh air clears my mind,
I feel alive like never before.
As I hear children playing nearby,
memories of my childhood days come alive;
one of the best moments of my life;
in this veranda forever entwined.
As I feel a soft breath of crispness on my face,
I reminisce about the times I had lived with him;
the village isn't as bad as it seemed.

This is the land where my ancestors lived;
and where I feel his presence still,
he must be smiling sitting on the chair beside me;
finally, content that I appreciate his accomplishment.