Anvita Dharma
I was just walking home.
The cold weather grips me tight.
The tug of my scarf provides warmth but isolates the cold.
Amber leaves fall.
They dance their way to the bottom, never expecting to go back up.
Why would they?
Being in the stars, being up high where everyone wants a bite—
You're slowly falling.
You're losing your leaves with every bite they take,
With every moment they steal,
And with every move they make,
Until you're left naked with nothing.
Robbed of yourself.
Stolen of your warmth.
I used to be up there.
All the diamonds and the dirt—
Dirt that can never be dug up.
My leaves fell.
I thought they would come back.
I was wrong.
My vibrance had died.
I was naked, and you knew the whole time.
Yet I still tugged, and you still played.
Were you forced to be up there?
Or did you crave something in return?
Did I put you up there?
Or were you just a leaf holding on the whole time,
Not knowing when you’d fall?
Autumn's colours take me back—
Back to you, but from a distance.
I sit and see the leaves fall.
Though I am naked, I am complete.
I wonder—are you?
Are you complete now?
After a year of warmth and love, are you still falling?
I won't tug anymore.
I’ll leave you be.
But sometimes, when the music dies and the trees are cold,
I’ll wonder if our love could ever grow old.
You’re nothing more than a memory to me.
Fragments of broken texts, hugs, and dirt—
Dirt that I’ll leave buried
To keep you as a distant memory.
A distant memory,
Falling to the ground.