Strangers and Lovers

from the table afar
beckoned by a brief glance
she smiled at him;
a moment so joyful
it effaced all time,
all the years
and every minute
they parted for

a fate so cruel
they part every time
if they meet as lovers;
a destiny so kind
their paths cross
as if bound to,
if strangers
they pretend to be

so they vowed
in whispers quiet,
silent and unspoken,
that they shall
meet as strangers
so familiar
they need not utter a word

but yet
she was afraid
if he has brought along
the past –
a bittersweet secret
that only they
(she and he) know

but his hands were bare
bare as the agony
of a longing
that still burns,
a longing
that they never let
to their fingertips
or the unkissed lips

at midnight hour
the day before
he walked through
the stooping corridors
of time
through the burlesque
labyrinths of memory
through the crumbling
walls of dreams
and hurled
into the deepest woods
that precious secret

at dawn
as it lay frozen
in a stray nest
a squirrel stopped by
and ate it fine
the restless eagle
finished the remains

so his hands were bare
he doesn’t need carry
the weight
of the time gone by
he can now see it all
in her eyes
which, with one glance,
melt both
the dreams that were
treasured in the past
and memories
of this evening
he will take to the grave

he smiled, too
but said not a word
for, what if
it will, yet again,
invite the wrath
of the brutish fate

she stood up
and briskly walked out
before even her fragrance
could waft along
his bearded cheeks

minutes later
as the fumes
of unshared coffee
felt the two empty chairs
all one could hear
was the deep sigh
of two hearts
that belong

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Formless

she chases you;
center of the world
you are for her
you run, you evade
she can’t catch
yet loves the chase
and then, she dies

when your feet
find their ground
you do the chase
the baby runs
you can’t catch
yet you won’t stop
and then, you die

is this the all
of life, then
a futile run?
a vestige of death
unlived and forgotten

perhaps!
but then, you noticed –
did you not –
the glee in her eyes
when she, briefly,
caught you, and held
to her bosom

the same sparkle
of joy untold
you find
in the little one’s
eyes
when, briefly though,
she is caught by you

how did your feet
you now wonder
not get hurt
running in that wild

it was so,
for your father’s hands
rested firmly
below your tender feet
whose every step
was the throb
of his heart

and now your
pining heart knows
as your hands, too,
brave the rigid ground
to make for
the steps gentle
of the little one

that unmistakable glee
in their eyes
that shower their love
on you
those invisible hands
that protect
on every torrid tread

they extend,
they transcend,
days, years, ages
and all limits of time
and embrace you
in all your moments
even when, done in by death
you turn formless

for, the best joys
the glistening tear
the lilting song
and the love
of the loving
and for the loved
are they not formless?

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