Crossroads

I can hear those tinkling bells

From far away,

Looming closer and closer,

And so does the distance that sundered us apart,

And so does time -

The witness to both this detachment & union...

My legs carry me as fast as they can,

From the backyard,

Leaving behind,

My chores... Awareness... Distress... Anticipation... Everything...

Just to run, trip over and fall,

In to the flower laden carpet,

Or your embrace...

My eyes cast over to the gate,

Asking where are you...

I step out of the doorway,

And I see a horse-driven cart...

It does not bring you.

Alas! But a bundle of haystack...

And with it a searing pain...

Unseen.. Unspoken... Unknown within...

Yet another subterfuge by fate...

Yet another penance waiting for you...

Ask my forlorn mornings,

Ask my lonesome nights,

Ask my fatigued eyes,

Ask my desolate heart,

Ask my worthless being,

How much they wait for you ...

Stranded... In the deserts of life...

Seconds... Minutes…Hours...

Days... Months... Years...

Have gone by,

But you still haven't turned up

to heal,

The agony that stabs my chest, so grievous.

The incessant droplets of salt, that my eyes shed.

Not a letter to read,

Not a word to know,

Nobody to inquire,

No one to tell,

Of your place,

Of your work,

Of your health,

Of your state... Anything...

The ground on which I stand,

And so does so the foundation

Of my kith and kin,

Is now uprooted,

It's branched tendrils rising against me,

Against my wishes... Aspirations & my life...

To clutch my hands,

And place it on someone else’s!

How shall I ever convey to you...?

How shall you ever come to know...?

...Of all those times...

When I came running up to you

With nothing, but only my humble prayer,

As an offering,

Your name did I chant,

As any melodious hymn.

But whenever my eyes, met yours,

Met yours- so vast... So intense...

I forgot to place my offerings

At your revered feet, my Lord...

For the prayer hid itself,

Among the manifold tides of secrets...

Among the enigma of silence...

...Of the plight that I am in...

Surrounded by towering barriers of uncertainty,

And the caustic air of fear,

Fear of losing you...

Even after losing things,

As trivial as sleep...

As precious as relations...

And still in this dark tunneled labyrinth,

Entrapped ...

I see a flicker of light...

That somewhere in the end

You'll be there, my redeemer,

To take me with you...

... Of the truth that now

All I have in my possession,

Your memories in my vision,

Your voice that flows with the springtime breeze,

Your presence in the fragrance of the Diaspora of blossoms,

Your love safe and secure,

In my heart.

All I want you to know...

Is that I still wait...

On the crossroads,

Where you left me...

And every element of my existence,

to a standstill...

With only my unremitting hope,

For company...

Whether or not time shall wait

I know not...

But I shall keep waiting...

Till these crossroads

Bring you to me...

And so I wait...

So do these crossroads...

Something awaits the imprints of your footsteps...

Someone awaits, the imprints of a nuptial alliance...