I stood arrested by my immediate present
Not daring to look back with ease
Letting the moment sink in slowly
With tingling numbness, with extreme unease

Did you also feel the same
When you saw me fleetingly that day
Your eyes posing a thousand questions
Your mind reminiscing the near forgotten way

It was indeed brief
And yet it seemed the telling of a tale
When your eyes seemed to half whisper
The advent of a gale

The unanswered questions
Continued to remain unanswered
The half open lips
Left the precious words unuttered

And yet you said it all
Your sheer anguish rising to a crescendo
Only the circumstances as always
Standing like a rock between the duo

Only some strands of air
Separated us that day
Only our sense of individuality
Held complete sway

‘If only and only if’
Will forever ring in our ears
If only we could muster the courage
And scale back the long lost years

Subir Chakraborty / 16th Sept 2018