Sometime last night
I woke, I saw you beside me
In an incomplete darkness
I saw the rising and setting,
The warmth and heat, the spell of a skipped hearbeat.

Your eyes only barely closed
Light dancing in the shadow
of your lashes - swift, untamed
Arms still curved in a hug
Where I had snuggled close, Where I had kissed your brows

The whispers of last words
from the night's conversations
Still linger somewhere – ethereal
In a twisted life I have had.
Smoldering a need so alien so new, a need to be with you.

How you knelt and held me,
How you opened your heart,
The flow of words hit me so hard.
The depth and sincerity curled my skin,
I knew, for all that's true I was in, I knew I had fallen in.

You should know how in the heart
of a soul lost, wounded and scarred
You kindled hope, perhaps undeserved
But, I wouldn't rest it just there, I reckoned
I would walk till wherever this led, I would walk it till the end.

It’s not been all so long, but,
Why does it seem like ages?

Only yesterday we loved, we argued.
Today we spoke again as strangers.
And later I saw you in the marketplace.
You looked perfect, you were, Always.

Not alone, were you? Your beautiful company,
I did not miss her, nor did so anybody.
Scarlet against the grey world, so charming her face
Held you in place. Does it matter? You’ve forgotten me anyways.

It’s not been all so long, but,
Why does it seem like ages?

Just now you passed me in the village fair,
You looked, turned back again and again.
Those piercing eyes following in a mad chase,
You sought me out. Remember if only, those sensuous days?

I cried the day you left.
I knew you'd never return.
I tried to strangle your memories in different ways,
But you brought them back, you and Scarlet in marketplace.

I met him on board the van,
Fiery and uncontrollable
against the heavily guarded windows.
He fought not with fists,
His weapons were slogans and songs
that shook the foundations
of a corrupt seat, a corrupt army.

How many times I had seen
him march the corridors,
His eyes set, his voice strong,
He was the face of freedom
and the fight for it.
To see him the same in the van,
it warmed my heart, gave me courage.

It was all over in a minute
A confusion, a push, a fall
And a flight outside the van.

They say he hit the limits
and his head exposed to all.
Some say it was a violent blow
And the "Gods" struck him down...
The rallies have broken,
People are back to cribbing
But none would walk his path
They fear, and rightly so,the aftermath.

What is it about this night that attracts me?
It's the same dark Indian sky - a battle-field
of grey and pink clouds, scattered stars.
A biker at my door step nodding in acknowledgement.
The next moment I am a pillion zooming past
dusty streets and honking cars - such chaos.

What is it about this night that calls me?
It's the same old destination - more trees
and lesser people. A highway as a leeway
to all perils of this hateful city.
This ride is a big U-turn and I'll be back
To the same cacophony, same city trash.

What is it about this night that strikes me?
It's the same me, wearing the same old pair of jeans,
A jacket to meet the cold, kohl in my eyes.
Same oggling at the silent, cold night
Still searching for something eventful to happen
Till the cold chills me and I wish my haven.

Not until you reached for my numb hand on my knee
And placed it on your warm, alive chest, Not until
I felt the rhythmic thud within, did I realize
What is so special - It was feeling reality and acceptance -
Life is so much more than just me. It's in the wide
night sky that cuddles me, in every person with a heart
that beats, in every moment you allow yourself to get old
and live with experiences, in places, with you.

This morning I was just me -
Detached from the past, estranged from time
I chased emptiness down the streets
Like a lost soul searching something divine
People walked past, people pushed by
I felt like a complete non-entity
Until you stopped, loooked at me in the eye
And stole away the last bit of sanity

I sat next to you, the sun going down,
Enveloped in the shadowy gown.
The shadows growing longer,
Your eyes shining brighter,
The moonight reflected in them as clearly as in a silent pool.

You smile, you turn away, you laugh.
I can see you shaking with mirth
The straight line of your back bent forward
In your hands a spell that captured beauty, captured moments
And you went back to them, with you me - revelling in nature.

The wind shifting spikes of your hair
There is something magical the way your sad eyes move
They seek peace, they seek love, they seek finesse.
I stutter, I stumble, I might not be any of these.
But I know I would always understand. I would be there.
If not with you, somewhere; still understanding.

The stars are up now, my hope is bright
If not forever, let it be for tonight.