Beneath the metro’s twilight hum,
I stood where all the strangers come.
My voice was low, my fingers tight
Around a phone that lit the night.

She spoke — the girl I’d never met,
Whose voice had warmed each day we’d yet
To bridge the miles from screen to skin,
A year apart, but close within.

A village boy from Bengal's rain,
I came by train, through fear and strain.
She hailed from cities far and wide,
A nurse, on duty, time denied.

But just today, for half an hour,
She’d slip from work’s unyielding tower,
And meet me by this concrete gate,
Where pulse and platform danced with fate.

“Gate Four,” I said. “I’m here. Waiting.”
She whispered back, “I see you. Wait.”
My eyes spun fast through faces blurred,
My chest beat loud with love unheard.

Then there she stood — not far, but near,
In steps that wiped away the year.
I thought, “She’s tall.” My throat went dry.
But closer now — we matched in eye.

She didn’t speak — just took my hand,
And led me through this foreign land.
Across the road, beneath the sky,
Our silence hummed a soft reply.

She bought me food — a chicken thigh.
(Though she eats none. I wondered why.)
We sat, she watched, I tried to speak —
But time was short and words were weak.

“I have to go,” she said at last.
And just like that, the moment passed.
No kiss, no vow, no sweeping song —
Just fingers held a moment long.

She turned and walked back to the light,
A nurse again in white and night.
And I — I rode the metro home,
Still feeling less alone, alone.

That evening, after duties done,
We typed the things we’d left unsung.
And somewhere in that crowded thread,
She softly said, “You held my hand.”

The clock moved on. The dreams, they stayed.
A new day dawned, but I replayed
That half an hour — a fleeting grace
When time stood still, and I saw her face.

- THE END -

© 2025 June, Hasanur Rahman Shaikh.
All rights reserved.

Hearts feels heavy today,
Since you are so far away.
I miss your voice, your gentle tone.
But here I sit, all alone

The day feel long, the nights so cold
wishing for your hand to hold
But through we are apart, my hearts still knows
Our love remains, it always grows

Had you asked 2 young adults what marriage was
They'd laugh, and assume its some forever where doubt would perish
Thus giving way to birth, legacy and forever
In the sky where they can be together

But what if you gave them each a glimpse to each others future
Where they couldn't tell the other what they saw, make it torture
Where they dance knowing where it ends
Not for themselves, but where the other bends

What if here with me was an expression
Where no sea or plane, but 3 hours
Divides this 2 individuals , test their dedication
Where they have no power

A parley, meeting, a chance at reconciling
But the other party is fighting to defend
Errors they surely know they have
Forcing the other back to their cave

This poem has no melody, yet this story was filled with it
taking 4 years as one would bring material, the other builds
Those 3 hours away, meant nothing when points met
The author awestruck, without a tongue to confess
The other so excited, yet weary not to make a mess
Of a story yet to be told, yet already in the making

A record of once these soulmates had seen the other
Saying to each other excuses of sister and brother
Can one use cement, to fix cracks in a glass house?
Where everyone could see brother playing cat and mouse?
Would a sibling learn to care so much they'd die for the other?
Would a lover think the friend zoning wasn't worth the bother?

Somewhere out there they always came to know
eventually love gave a massive blow
Valentine's day suddenly had meaning, promised hugs and meetings become binding contracts
For when these siblings would eventually come to make contact
Funny how the end of the tale wasn't left in tact

Long distance is a blunder, but like the song it can be great
To know another through that connection of imagination and past tense
Testing fate yet always coming to see
That you never truly came to need me
It was I, who wanted you to be
you.
To be here, with me.