You and I (and sometimes another)

I.
It is not just you and I.
It's the world.
And yet we doubt,
cringe,
crib,
and cry at our failures.
Ours, we say,
And lament again.

II.
I looked into the mirror
And saw you.
She was by your side too.
We looked a pretty pair -
You, me and she.

And yet there was an ugliness,
damp as the thunderstorm outside,
making the mirror vapour-ridden.

Suddenly the images become distorted
And we all merge into each other,
forming a shape none of us know.

III.
Your words speak my thoughts
Your poems express my emotions
Your touch resonates my yearning.
My darling,
You and I are meant to be One.

I complete your sentences
I embody your imagination
I blow life into your breath.
My darling,
You and I are meant to be One.

IV.
Where did she come from,
like a sprout on the window sill
After a week of rain?

What is she doing here,
like a blown strand of hair
rolling on the floor amid dust?

Where is she taking you,
like the witches of yore
who enchant and destroy?

V.
You licked my ears,
tingling the soul,
And I heard her laugh
in those very ears.

You cupped my breast
with trembling hands
And I felt her touch,
I saw her shuddder.

You kissed my neck
with a soft-falling breath
And I knew her smell
upon your pink lips.

I see her in you.
Whom do you see in me, darling?

On heartaches and faults

I.

It wasn’t his fault,

Nor was it mine;

And yet guilt hangs around us all the time

Like mist in Coorg,

Or Nainital.

We met one day and parted

with such a deep wound in hearts

that it tore them to shreds,

Like an enlarging tear on clothes.

II.

I lied to him

That I was a virgin.

You are the first to touch me, I said,

And he hugged me in delight,

Slowly sliding his hands up my skirt.

I did not flinch.

He immediately withdrew.

No. you’re not a virgin.

You’ve seen men before.

I don’t want you, he said,

And moved to the next girl in the line.

III.

My heart ached, and the sun smiled at me.

My heart ached, and the sun said goodbye across the sea.

My heart ached, and the moon turned bright and round.

My heart ached, and the moon blackened its visage in grief.

My heart ached, and the winds sang to me.

My heart ached, and the winds roared at my window.

My heart ached, and the dust rose up in a cheer.

My heart ached, and the rain invited me for a dance.

My heart ached… and Mother Nature said, Move On, child.