Come Back

Credit: Sheela Pillai

You tell me you have to go.
After travelling all the way
to steal the ecstasy from
my eyes,
you tell me you have to go.
"Why?"
I ask.
Will some more time hurt?
I wish I could freeze the moment when
sliced the wind into pieces
of tranquility, I wish you never left.
What is it so enchanting that's
drawing you back?
Tell me,
I won't be hurt,
for I am not telling you
that I am enchanting enough for you to stay,
I am but a wanderer,
too enchanted by the legacies of
all the racing clouds and the bleeding sun,
but again, do I have to be enchanting for you to stay?
"Tell me" I ask again
Tell me what is that you go back in search of, the very second you meet me.
You tell me
you are lost as well,
in between all the slithering
memories.
You tell me you have to go back
trudging along those limned locks
of life,
You tell me you have to go back
to make sure that the five-year-old
understands that going back sometimes
means going home and sometimes going back means choosing another path.
You tell me you have to go
to see if all the
the music you played during your journey
still echoes in joy,
you tell me you have to go to come back,
"I'll wait"
I tell you,
secretly hoping that the next time
you touch my feet,
I will listen to the songs you sing
all your way across the sea,
wondering if that's why the rays of sound
are called sound waves.

-Vasanthi