Seasons

by Sneha Subramanian Kanta
(Mumbai, Maharashtra, India)

This cyclic, never ending
aura of this monsoon;
we walked together battling the enormous
force of raindrops

they slap me on my face today
as if loving you were a sin I committed

I’m on the rooftop of my house
watching the late sun rise in winter
how we’d dreamt of giving each other
warmth

the heat my shawl gives me today is
unbearable

The koyal is singing a song
enchanting me to bring you along
i am tired,
the sun’s harsh rays beat my eyebrow

I find a piteous solace in the same
heat, burning myself now

It has been twelve years since this
momentum of time continues
it doesn’t stop---
i’m someone else’s wife today
forcibly, I lay
in someone else’s arms
making love out of meaningless
relationships
You left me ravaged
along the path…

and yet I have so much
to wonder about.

Years have passed
and i silently rebel through silence
the world seems to turn upside down

as this moonless night
i sit in the dark
and conjour verses for
those who i loved
and those who i’ve lost!

Dedicated to all those who've loved and lost due to peer pressure, caste biases and so on... In their silent tears is their love buried, tucked far from the maddening encroach of the world.