She scans his face for familiar lines
But in the face of her lover, meets a stranger
Taken aback, she closes her eyes, urges him to whisper,
gently, her name
'...' the word is same, he pronounces it exactly the way he used to
But she hears the name of someone else;
Someone new.
Struggling for old shape and sound
She reaches for his arms and folds herself an embrace
But feels no familiar touch,
Her ears quiver no more
At the once-soft breaths that gently nudged and tugged at her hair
She gradually breaks down;
Forced smile by smile, by frown,
And steals a final gaze at his eyes
And in their reflection,
Sees a stranger-smiling, shivering, unfamiliar
A stranger.