You are there-
At the heart of existence
Crawling in memories
Surging inside the branches
of my aortic archway
like a cascade of wastewater
sending the last bits
of exuberance away
into exile.


You slither beneath
a pile of hopeful dreams-
the rash and folly of youth
Their hearts ripped apart
by your front fangs
Your voracious tongue
splashes my depth
and dips its venom
in my flowing pith-
pleasure. .


So you are there!
Everytime I look for breath
in my creaky chest
but find only cigarette smoke
drifting away from 'your' lungs.
There's a glow at night
that of the firefly in me-
I guess, or the end
of your seventh cigarette
I cannot tell.

Nobody sees you these days
But you are still there.
I always sense your mischievous fingers
and ecstatic half-open eyes
a moment before I realise
You are really gone.

If I were in pieces Could I grab the phone
and give you a call?
Would you wipe away my tears or care about me at all?
Would you hear my pain if someone dragged a blade across my heart?
Would you stick my pieces together before I fall apart?
Would you for no reason hold my hand and say it'll be okay?
Is it too much ask? Would you like strangers to just stay away?
I don't know you at all but I wish you picked up the phone and said hi.
I've been with too many people who called only to say goodbye.
Sometimes I read this from the dying passion in their eyes
Sometimes from the awkward silence and often from their lies.
Will you sit through my grief long enough that it turns into a smile?
Will you, Will you for once tell me I am strong even though I'm fragile.
I'm in the telephone box now dialing random numbers on an imaginary list
praying in my heart someone like you can still exist.

600 feet up in the air with you
Battling gravity tooth and nail
"No strings attached” you say

While my soul has already nestled  
in your arms
There comes an incoherent yell  
Of an old friend from beneath
Her alarm attempts to tickle my ears
Yet I’m held to your heart too close
To care for anything
Other than the melody of your pulse
"No strings attached” you say.

Aye- agreed!  
What holds us together is a chain
you must know.  
Looping itself around us both  
With each twist we take
In your whirlwind of passion
Every tiny particle of space removed
Locking us together- as one
“No strings attached”  

You murmur into a deaf ear
Hurling my soul out of your lap  
At long last.

600 feet downwards I’m shot
Like a bullet out of a ruthless gun
Landing in wrong hands  
and wrong beds on my way
in mid-air,suspended
In dreams spinning

Now I’m fumbling in my heart  
for the rusty chain  
That held us together  
The old friend too yells “No strings attached”  
My chest is empty
You must have pulled at my heartstrings..

Somewhere in the deep terrain of my heart,
there was you all along,
your heart echoed your sweet songs
from a distance far off,
yet so close to mines.
-L.D.

the last touch of summer
sharing kisses and ice cream
under an august sun
endless hours gazing
lost in your doe eyes

the smell of drying hay
while we played
in your uncle’s grain silo

wild children
on the cusp
of a lost childhood

evening cocktails
sipping anisé
dad grilling
mom dancing
as you and i exchange glances

fire pit blazing
a cool night descending
sitting in a papasan
the last night
holding each other
your head on my shoulder

i cherish
savor the memories
of us
that indian summer