Did I Ever Meet You? Poem by BASAB CHAUDHURI

As I stood by the sea
I saw the sky melting into the ocean,
Going into oblivion.
I looked at, gazed, saw, and then walked.
The trees were saluting the ground,
The sand was in a hurry,
Children were busy as never before,
Men and women were buried in the time
Lost for ever.
I was counting time, holding them in my palm
Whatever I did, it just slipped out.
Slipping by, sliding by, gliding by,
All these and much more,
Lost in time, in tide, forlorn.
The sea, as always, indifferent
To you, to me, to the poet
To the philosopher,
Even to the fishermen.
Someone said, 'Doubt me not....., '
Doubt I had, and perhaps, you had too,
As you said, 'Did I ever.....
Did I ever..... meet you? '