Left. Right.

– Surya Nandana

Gazing at each other from across the rails,
A line that separates the pages of our tales;
We see the time ticking away, 
Closer to the end, when we finally say, 
“Goodbye, good luck; I’ll see you again: 
If, as they say, the earth is round” - when 
Unannounced, the engine chugs in - red - 
Unnerving, threatening, with anger unsaid.

Our eyes lock for the last time; 
Then the beast moved left, marching on 
In its relentless journey - gone 
In its indifference was our last moment. 
The windows flitted by like film reels - and then 
You were gone - your warmth, an apparition, 
A sad shadow of longing cast - ashen - 
On my face that refused to let go 
Of your sight; eyes shut, head bowed 
I wished to stop time in its tracks.

As the wisps of your memory fade away, 
Your platform, dead like a winter day, 
Another locomotive crawls up to mine, 
And now, it’s my turn to stand in line;

My portal to another world - without you. 
The gap between the platform and the blue 
Steps, looming like the river of Hades, 
Jostling people and urgent whistles create unease - 
In one leap I get in, when the horn blared: 

To the right moved the train; to the left I stared.

Edited by S Santhosh Mohan