The multiple rivulets of pain
Which seem to drip
Drop by drop
Into your tormented heart
I collect in the cusp of my hand
And caress it gently
With the warm breath of my love
Drying your truant tears
With the flutter of my ‘lashes
Wanting to say ‘I love you’
In a thousand different ways
Silently
Without uttering a word
While soaking in your grief
Till you are left with nothing
But a sense of renewed freedom
And I
With a wound in my heart
Nursing your agony lifelong
And swimming in alternating waves
Of ecstasy and sweet suffering

Subir Chakraborty
3rd Nov 2023