by M.Mohankumar
In this poem, M. Mohankumar pens the feelings of a young man waiting for a woman on a moonless night.
On a dark, moonless night,
a young man sits brooding.
‘Why is she so silent?’ he asks
himself. ‘Last time, weeks ago,
we parted on a happy note.
But who can figure her out?
Sometimes she is soft as silk,
sometimes hard as steel.
Peals of laughter are often
followed by sullen silence.
How often she has kept me
waiting, waiting, listening for
the rustle of her arrival,
the tinkling of the bangles,
and the muffled footfalls!
After the parting, weeks ago,
I’ve heard her voice only once –
long-distance, matter-of-fact.
And then the snapped lines,
the resounding silence.’
And there he is, waiting…
Like the chakora bird
waiting for the moon.
Mohankumar has published eight volumes of poetry in English, his latest collection being “Gleanings” which released in 2016. His poems have appeared in almost all reputed literary magazines in print in India. His first collection of short stories in English, ‘The Turning Point and Other Stories’ has been published by Authorspress, Delhi. Mohankumar retired as Chief Secretary to Government of Kerala.
