Here’s an evocative love poem by Nilakshi, as we celebrate the season of fertility and bounty, in Different Truths.

Will there be a time 
When there’ll be us
Just us
Waiting for each other
Holding on to each other
As life passes by...
Will we watch people go
About their daily business
And smile at memories
We had made together. 
Us, just us? 
The flowers will bloom brighter 
The birds sing loudly
The breeze blow stronger 
The sea linger longer 
Just so that we savour it all
Us, just us.
Will you breathe that lighter 
Smile just that kindlier 
Move just that easier
Your soul full with knowing 
That I'm yours, all yours
Forever and maybe more. 
That there's no one else besides, it's 
Us, just us?
Will I laugh at little nothings
As always I did
Will I sing, hum and warble
With you soaking all in? 
Will I read you tales of lives before
Of spirit, courage, fire and will?
Will I rest my tired eyes on the evening glow of yours? 
And drink in that twilight essence, of
Us, just us?
Will they read stories about us?
Our lives, our days, our histories? 
Will our lives be worth telling about
To others who follow our trail?
Or should we read this book of life, 
Use it, and just throw? 
Does it stay?  Does it end, with
Us, just us?

Picture design, Anumita Roy

Nilakshi Roy

Nilakshi Roy is an Associate Professor in English in Vaze College, Mulund, Mumbai. An occasional academic writer and poet, she writes short stories and articles. A founder of Culture All: Conversations on Cultural and Social Awareness, she works with underprivileged children and women, in Thane, in her spare time as of now. She has authored a number of papers on diverse subjects, notably on fashion, on the Saree, and the choli, and on film.

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