Memories of Insomnia

Last night rolling over in my bed,

With drooping eyes and racing mind,

I boarded a train of random thoughts.

Only to find millions of flashes,

That I couldn't get hold of.

Memories, conversations, moments.

My mind was flooded ,

I couldn't remember a thing.

So I walked up to my window,

And took a sip from my water bottle,

That felt frozen for a second,

Yet dissipated warmth of comfort.

Then my mind ruffled a bit,

And the flashes began again,

Like glimpses of trees running,

Outside the window of that train,

Of young years, wasted or spent.

Ah! This time I caught one bubble,

It burst right into my face,

And popped up a random memory,

Of another night when I was awake,

Restless, writing a letter to myself,

And the blue screen lit up,

With a text from a little friend,

Oh! Now I remember that friend,

Of all this time out of the blue,

We used to talk of poetry,

Had shared our stories together.

We haven't talked in years,

Have forgotten life happened,

I don't know what became of her.

She was a storyteller she said,

I guess she became one too,

The last time I knew,

She floated to some place,

Nobody has heard of her since then.

I scroll through the backups,

A few old conversations remain,

They remind me of those days.

Strange how we drifted away,

And never got to notice,

How easily we moved ahead,

Our caricatures faded into distance,

The sillage of those days emanated,

And dissolved into thin air.

With puffs of white clouds,

I come back to reality,

Gulping water down the throat,

Trying to sleep again.

'Tonight was strange', I think,

And try to close my drooping eyes,

Pushing away the endless flashes,

Of running trees of my memories,

The train doesn't stop,

I roll over to the side again.

My fingers run over a bookmark,

With an old bridge in some city,

With a faded yellow lamp in the dark.

Ah! Now I remember her,

My neighbour from childhood,

Who used to talk of music,

She loved the rhythms of nights,

I guess she became one too.

'No! My racing mind needs to stop,

I need to sleep tonight,

Tomorrow I will board the train,

To grab bubbles outside the window,

From the running trees of memories,

May be I will remember her then', I think.

******************

I woke up today with a dizzy head,

Remembered last night,

And sipped my coffee,

Then forgot all of it.

'Last night was strange,

I don't remember a thing,

May be tonight I will sleep well'.

The train has come to a halt,

The letter, the bookmark, the city,

The old bridge, the yellow light,

Will wait for tonight,

For me to roll over in my bed,

And smile while I board that train,

With running trees of memories,

Outside my window,

And remind me of someone else again..