The Parting
Abdul Rasheed
Bijapure
You
never said so. For
words sometimes are treacherous
I always thought
you know me better
than I do my self.
We
knew we couldn’t
face each other.
You saw me in the mirror.
The most lovable
the most delicate thing
I tore off from my heart.
You
saw me
strangulate it with eyes closed,
with a dead man’s throat.
In
the mirror
I too caught a glimpse
just for a moment
(no courage to look to it),
You too did the same thing
with your feelings ----
only a little more firmly.
The
painful task over
for the unfortunate two,
you came to me
with genuine smile
(who has taught you this?)
and I had lowered
the mist eyes.
In
this incomprehensible world
When my melting heart
was carving
to draw you nearer,
my tongue was asking you
to proceed, to depart.
Then I witnessed
A living man too breaks in two.