If we were in love
And the government, in all their wisdom,
Banned all conversations altogether
A vast silence would reign
In smoky coffee halls and crowded streets…
Silent like libraries;
There would be no way
Of speaking of forbidden things except
For writing them down in letters:
Every day I would send
Pages detailing out your smile, my love,
Your beautiful dark eyes;
But if the jealous bureaucrats
Rationed the use of words, limiting spends,
I would still write only to you
One by one, till all words,
Like precious bank balance ran out slowly,
Like sunlight in winter;
Even then I would not quite stop.
I would send you these blank sheets of paper.
Every day, till the last of days:
If they took the sheets away
My parched lips shall move silently
Narrating to the wind;
And my love shall be written in blank sheets.
Only the wind and you
Will know what they say.
Diptesh Ghosh