Poem | Shriya Kher (@shriyayayaaa) | Swipe for the picture prompt by @puuung1
Today, we sit across each other
Our lives entangled, like the flowers
sitting tamely inside a vase on the
dining table.
A cloth hangs outside in the balcony
clipping itself to the dusty bar
for months now, crumpled and dry.
That gold and black dress
we bought years ago for you,
Lies inside the cupboard,
Still shining and anew.
The onscreen drama makes itself
a backdrop, without a single sound
For the constant banter
between you and me,
Echoes within the four walls
of our timid house.
You smile perpetually
at my queer habits
and I laugh unceasingly
at your naive jokes.
You frown at me
As I coldly eye you
during long date nights,
While I drift away into
the cadence of your voice.
A story clutches itself onto our lips
loosely, for it’s afraid of falling down,
And fading away into the smoke
that emerges itself out of the burnt
cigarettes we throw on the bathroom floor.
A small plant hangs onto the ceiling,
It’s leaves slowly withering,
Like our minds when we lie on
the bed, quietly, pretending.
I wonder if this is a catastrophe,
Disastrous yet
beautiful,
For when you walk wordlessly
every evening,
Gripping two cups of coffee in your hands,
Placing yourself onto the chair
and the cups on the table,
Vapour rises out of them
like a melancholy unsung.
You ask me not to touch them,
For they might burn my fingers.
So we sit across each other,
As my sullen gaze digs
through your glittering eyes,
Finding a home to undress
my vulnerable sides,
Your legs push mine,
Our coffee turns cold,
And all over again,
We fall in love.
The Pen Wielders 