Words Poem by Somnath Patra

At the fair on the day of the chariot festival, I met her.
We talked too.
Just ordinary conversation—
Like, what am I doing now, how am I,
Where are my wife and children,
And how is she, how is her
Husband, her children— all that.

We talked, we teased.
Then we shared an ice cream together,
Like lovers do—
Though she still sees me only as a friend.

Such a brief meeting, yet so many words—
It never seemed to end.
At some point, she returned home,
And that should have been the end of the conversation.

But it wasn't.

I kept talking,
All alone—
Through the whole evening, through the whole night—
I kept mumbling alone
And kept on
Alone,
Forever and ever— alone.