Reverse Time

What happens in reverse time?

Nothing much, really.

My flu appointment is 

Scheduled for yesterday

Owing to a fever I will 

Contract next month. The 

Hernia sleeping in mom's

Stomach connects itself, and 

Nani knits me countless

Sweaters apart- after she

Awakes from the pyre.

Stairway to heaven begins

With a fade-in and finishes

With that haunting acoustic

Melody. Waiters come clacking

Their boots towards cafe seats, 

Carrying empty glasses that

I refill with sparkling orangeade.

Then I take money, get tipped

And leave. 

What happens in reverse time?

Nothing much.

Benjamin Button 

Becomes mainstream and 

Nolan writes memento forwards. 

Hair growth is the primary problem

Plaguing middle-aged self-worth,

And happily married couples 

Love until birth does them

Part. The ones who don't work

Out separate and move on 

When they get openness. 

Let there be dark, She says,

And there is dark. Windows 

Cross over into houses; winters

Into Octobers.

There is an entire 

Season called 'rise'. 

What happens in reverse time? 

India begins in fascism and ends

In democracy before merging

With Pakistan.

The British

Unite and surrender. Riots 

Involve people crushing each

Other with bear hugs, and guns 

Swallow bullets out of healing

Wounds. Smiles are the normal

Way to keep your mouth, and

Someone asks you if you're 

Okay when you stop. Tears 

Hydrate your body, so you 

Get to cry at the slightest 

Bit of drama. Everyone remembers

Their last soulmate and waits

For their first. Old age is hopeful,

Youth experienced, and infancy

Crossfades into sleep. 

Seas water skies.

What happens in reverse time?

Nostalgia anticipates tomorrow.

Lata Mangeshkar and Chris

Cornell become artists of

Today, their songs cradling 

Me through the dullest

Friday. Countless dull Fridays 

Rotate the earth westward,

The years lose digits like 

A weighing scale, and 

Krishna awakes with an 

Arrow coming out 

Of his foot. 

Buildings crash and

Build, coffee gets 

Hotter by the minute,

Beards shrink if undisturbed, 

Flowers die at their youngest,

World peace prevails. 

The universe begins with 

Dark iron balls floating in 

Midair, and ends in a 

Spectacular collapse of 

Matter and energy. 

What happens in reverse time?

I begin a poem.