Un-erased
Every time I say "Please come back"
I feel the distance between us grows.
My lungs get heavier each time.
But I know we can't go back.
I wonder if I'll hear her again.
We had tried so hard
But with the additional card we placed,
This house of cards we had so carefully built,
Collapsed.
As I read the words she wrote—
"I don't want to be with you anymore"
"I don't want this relationship"
I knew I needed to let her go.
But you have to understand—
There is no letting go.
I don't know what we're putting in the coffin,
But I do know her eyes,
And her laugh and the way her hair smells.
I know her small hands, which fit perfectly into mine.
I know that she has had me bowled over and
God knows, love is deep and love hurts,
Like the first light that emancipates the prisoner.
This burial, I can't find enough earth to cover
The coffin that we have left behind.
The first day when I knew I loved her,
I couldn't love another.
I know when she wore my clothes,
I didn't want to wash them,
Because I wanted to hold on to every piece of her.
I promised her not to let go
And I won't—
Of her or myself, of us.
This time we are done,
And my stormy heart is kicking up
A silent tornado.
I wish her well, my wife and lover.
And my best friend.
Interestingly, this is a poem that I turned in for the weekly poetry contest held by Delhi Poetry Slam with the theme of heartbreak. It was shortlisted as a winner, and I guess I am sharing it less because of the contest and more because of the piece’s honesty. Nevertheless, encouragement goes a long way and as an aspiring poet, I only hope to give the best of myself to the art—truthfully bare, brutal and colorful.
