AS I STAND AND WAIT

As I wait for the phone to ring

As I wait for the SMS alert

As I wait for the WhatsApp beep

As I wait for the doorbell to ring

Just a “Hi”

Perhaps a “Hello”

Or maybe “I am fine”

Or even a “Reached”

Aches increase

The loneliness stings

All the dreads come back.

Night falls

Television sets are switched off

Peace regains

A few more pages to finish

Before I turn in for the night

Do students read ‘Doctor Zhivago’ anymore?

I wonder

Careless thoughts

Fears multiply

The nightmares return.

It’s 2 a.m.

And she is still at work

Has she eaten?

She must be tired

Let me go to sleep

Will someone help me sleep?

It’s 3 in the morning

Will the wait end?

It’s a new day

With tea and newspaper

Same old news

Same old stories

Same old cartoons

Same old routine

Another day of waiting

Endless

Relentless.

The Facebook throws up

Friends in thousands

Same old faces in new profiles

A few updates

Hypocrisy abounds

Heartaches and heartthrobs

Hearts bleed too

For Rohiths and Kanhaiyas

The bashing continues

For Modi and Trump.

For two weeks

Read the columns

Heard the discourses

A new God is in sight

A beacon of hope

Harbinger of Azaadi

They say he has found a new definition

The intolerant talk of tolerance

The tolerant turn to intolerance

So let us wait for the deliverance.

Age shows its ugly side

Have to live with it

The body weakens

Memory fails

Trapped inside a Beautiful Mind

They have to await

Their turn

And so must we.

A walk on concrete

As buildings collide

Roller skates whizzing by

The breeze stops

Waiting

Wondering

To blow or not to blow

Beads of sweat appear

For company I find

Endless shapes

Broken bodies

Twisted legs

Unsteady steps

Foggy minds

Words without voices

Greetings exchanged

I walk on.

The baby

Has left his pram

Walks now and

Prattles on

As the dog rises to greet him

Hope returns

As I walk back home.

DS