You don't even know darling : © Nibedita Sen

You don’t even know, darling
With your arms around me
I am still distant, like the midday sun

My laughter breaks the concrete walls
Of life and the lifeless rituals of daily days
It’s that thunder bursting through
The string of makeshift shops

The music is on
We settle down with a drink or two
On a sofa, your hands searching into my soul
And I am walking lonely through the sunset lanes
In a lost avenue where koels* speak the language I know

On lazy afternoons, my canvases flourish
And I am painting the yellow yesterdays
And on parties with new found friends
The cocktail still blushes with the same old lies

You don’t even know, darling …
When I cry, I just don’t cry for today’s burns

*Koel: Cuckoo