Sitting somewhere
far from home
thoughts are a nagging child
in my village fair
It's summertime now back home
long summers of grumbling pigeons pecking
on sunrays in our courtyard.
Do you remember then, Aavantika ?
when the soil broke outside to a selfish sun
and the stray wind struck relentlessly
on our memory panes,
when sweat mingled on our tongues quenching
finally the sanity of a parched earth,
when our eyes locked up together
searched nooks
of rejoicing in the purdah of desires,
when my hands cupped behind your dupatta veil
held dampness on an arching sky…
When I first uttered words for you that were never
really spoken,
when we tread deeply in the softness of
a filtered light and flavor from the khus curtain,
when I held incessantly to your tangled hair, untoward whispers
and tender breath touches of the half moon
hidden before offering…
Do you remember then, Aavantika ?
that loving had always been a long summer,
wild in the countryside of our dreams…
by Dr. Amitabh Mitra
February 19, 2006