A Look-371 Poem by Smruti Ranjan Mohanty

A LOOK-371

Your eyes speak to me,
your shadow brushes my skin
like a forgotten dream.

It is my refuge
when I am at my lowest,
broken and resigned to fate.
I look at it—
it whispers, Why this despair, man?
I may not be with you,
but my shadow is.

When the world turns away,
your shadow follows,
silent, yet holding my trembling heart
like a beloved clasping a lover's hand.

That pair of eyes
is the mirror of my life.
When I gaze into them,
I see myself—
a coward drifting
upon an ocean of joy.

They tell me, You wasted your hours,
torn between mind and conscience,
emotion and reason,
love and loyalty,
life and reality—
you ruined what life had placed in your hands.

At times those eyes seem to smile,
as though they forgive my follies,
as though they know
how fragile this heart is.

Your image steadies my life,
your eyes are my heaven of ecstasy.
With them I speak and fall in love,
believing you can still hear me,
feel the faint beats of a wounded heart,
and the broken dreams
that lie behind these weary eyes.

And my love, in that shadow
I learn to breathe,
learn to live once more,
believing you are still with me.

Smruti Ranjan Mohanty©
India
30.7.2025
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