9:00pm.

Exam tomorrow. And, I am suffering from brain death. To make things worse, I miss you, her, him, everyone.

Apurva calls. I know that by the look of the number....those USA numbers are weird. We talk about Sritama...Sritama envies Apurva, Apurva envies Sritama. We talk about Gaurav. We talk about her future, her confusion. We talk about my exam. She asks me to write a poem for her class assignment. I tell her I'll do it tonight itself, since I will be going to Durgapur tomorrow and no more access to the net after that. Call disconnected.

I'm thrilled. And then worried. You'll call me an aatel again. Okay, challenge one: time limit: 15 minutes. Challenge two: it should be a common man's poem; not a poet's poem. Challenge three: Sonnet is the alternative for Apurva.

Challenge two gets priority. All the while I keep in mind that the imageries should be such that you understand. I need more than 15 minutes. I don't know what Sonnet sends her. But I'm feeling more alive after this:

The Silhouette Was You

I didn’t tell you that I’m walking backwards,

Hoping that I’ll bump into you

I didn’t know that you were far away,

I didn’t know the silhouette was you.

 

I swallowed the lump in my throat,

Cleared it to shout out to you

I didn’t know that you were far away,

I didn’t know the silhouette was you.

 

I made a glider, and away it threw,

Hoping that it would fly to you

You would know it’s me: the paper was pink

Aimless it flew; I watched it shrink.

 

There’s the storm, there’s the rain

There’s the water flooding the drain

Even you’re still here, ain’t you?

Even when it’s gray, even when it’s blue.

 

I went to the church, behind the hill,

Looked here and there, in fact looking for you

I didn’t know that you were far away,

I didn’t know the silhouette was you.

 

The fall is here; the roads are red

I’m sitting by the window, waiting for you

I don’t believe that you are far away,

I don’t believe the silhouette was you.

Special thanks to Microsoft Word.