A Look -373 Poem by Smruti Ranjan Mohanty

A LOOK-373

Your eyes say
What you seek to hide.
I get it—
Even when your gestures
Fail to convey,
Even when you are
Miles away.

What you do not know
Is how I feel,
What I endure
When your smile fades,
When your eyes lose their gleam,
And my heart knows—
You're not in your ebullient shell.

I may not speak much,
But I notice every silence.
I sense the pain
Behind your quiet gaze.

I am not what
You think me to be.
I appear different—
A bird in a golden cage.

When circumstances dictate terms,
Love may lose its warmth,
But its essence and freshness remain intact.
Nothing, not even death,
Can put an end
To soul-love—
It exists, beyond time and space.

I ask those beautiful eyes
To look into mine.
Do they see a hypocrite there—
Or an innocent heart
That beats only
For your well-being?

I may falter,
But my love never does.
If the answer is yes,
Don't I deserve to know
How you are?

Am I asking for too much?
Is it too much
For one
Who loves
Without a condition?

I just want to be with you,
In happiness and sorrow,
To listen when words are few,
And let you know
I am still with you—

In all weather:
Rain, summer, and winter.

Smruti Ranjan Mohanty
India
1.8.2025
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