Its 11 pm
and you are still at work
i know there is nothing you can do about that
but there are things i wish you would do
like eat a snack in the evening
the fact that you haven’t eaten anything since lunch
worries me immensely
you tell me to have dinner and go to sleep
to not wait up for you
but in your absence food tastes like sawdust
the bed is a cold hard stone
in any case sleep refuses to comfort
my thoughts which throw up numerous questions –
are you hungry? would you have eaten? are you tired?
working late would be making you upset, are you okay?
and so on – i wish i could ignore them, not worry,
and say that you’re an adult and can take care of yourself
but i know from experience my love,
just how well you do not do that

so here i am waiting up for you
at 11 pm
hoping in futility that somehow
my worrying will help

- Vijayalakshmi Harish
  09.01.2013
  Copyright © Vijayalakshmi Harish