Poem: Before and After
I wrote this poem with nobody in mind, but it started with an inadequate feeling of not writing such a poem itself. Hence the question-and-answer mode.
Poem: BEFORE AND AFTER
My dear, what do you remember of me?
My words or my silence
My presence or without me
My moments or memories
That I am safely ensconced in the past
Or, the anticipation of my future arrivals
Or, just this moment, however long it lasts.My dear, what reminds you of me?
The still peaks of stoic mountains
Or, the persistent waves of the tempestuous sea.
The sharp, piercing streaks of the yellow sun
Or, the soft, soothing wash of the white, speckled moon.
The moments before the rain begins
The anticipation, the little gust of winds
The smell of desperate longing
And the fervent looks at the heavens high
Or, the moment when the rains are gone.
The washed leaves and the wet earth
The crystal clear air and the chirpy birds
The buds that are yet to blossom
Or, the flowers that the butterflies court.Beloved, what would you like to experience?
Say, if we walk hand in hand:
The footprints that we leave behind,
Or the path that is ahead of us
Say, if we just sit on that park bench:
The memories of our first meeting,
Or the little ones that play out there.Dear, what about the books and journeys?
Am I a chapter that you have read?
And turned a page, a gone chapter
Or, Am I a new chapter that follows
Waiting to be read, hidden below.
Am I that passenger who got off?
At a station while you were still aboard
Or, am I waiting at a station
Waiting to board your train.Beloved, what about us now?
Whether you read my epitaph
Or I read yours, my dear.
If we live a good life now -
Then I am the page that you are reading,
I am a passenger on your train
I am the present, the gift to you.
Can we now start to live -
Wholly together, here and now?~Ashok Subramanian © 2024
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