Longing

And now for our prompt (optional, as always). This is one that we’ve used before, but one test of a good prompt is that you can come back to it! For this prompt, you will need to fill out, in five minutes or less, the following “Almanac Questionnaire.” Then, use your responses as to basis for a poem.

The longing is sudden and intense

made more acute by the greying skies

as well as the letter of a childhood friend

which I found tucked in the folds of my old school dress

during an intense bout of cleaning

I tell my beloved I must have jhalmuri*, now!

he shakes his head at my childish request

tells me to look out into the empty street

lined with stern, sentry like lampposts

not even a stray dog is visible from my window

feeling small and woebegone I sit there

when a sudden downpour pelts me

taking me back to the red-bricked maternal childhood home

where I would stand in the courtyard in a cotton slip

under the large gulmohar tree

and catch the petals caressed raindrops

on my tongue

shivering with fever at night

I would insist grandma tell me

the story of prince charming again

as she applied warm oil on my feet

now in this huge metro, confined in a thousand square foot

can’t even walk to the cornershop

down the alley for groceries!

the borders all around, completely sealed

with a sigh I get up, saving my tears for later

pick my pen then put it down

thoughts too jumbled up to flow with ink

the newspaper lies neglected in a corner

for all it does is reduce people to numbers

and propagate theories of megalomaniac leaders

as well as lab-made diseases

a hot cuppa is thrust in my hand with a pat on my back

and the tears flow unbidden

will I be able to see my mom soon

will we rise Phoenix like

or crumble like the ancient fort of my city

suddenly the graffiti on the subway flashes across my eyes

“You are not alone!”

*jhalmuri : a spicy, savoury snack made with puffed rice and vegetables. Watch it here.

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