| I am walking, erratic, stable, Even if I fall flat on my face you suddenly appear beside me, Your footsteps wandering to go away And return. With the ashes scattered Into the river, you look like you’re barely 40, With the dark hair and twinkling eyes Of the man that I remember, edging me along Even on the darkest nights. Because it’s hot You’re wearing those cotton shorts and white shirt You love so much, and those shoes you walked in Early in the mornings when I would sulk behind you Dragging my feet, forced out of dreams with your firm but gentle hand at 4:30 am. It’s hot enough that we are sweating already, Even the light breeze provides no relief. Too hot for our shirts to dry till another drop Falls on our faces. I walk along in the night Not thinking of these things, I’m dying to stop my trudge towards home, turn around and ask you if you’re really here. But Radhakanta has my ear, “do not make that old mistake, trust, just open your mind, keep moving.” through the mire of a desperate memory “let those you’ve loved come back when they are ready, when you are ready, as though no one was lost to begin with.” |
ipsita banerjee 