Soliloquy

The sun still rose on this dimly-lit city
the day after you were gone
as did the newspaper boy trudging his bicycle upon his arms
in the wake of the flooded street thanks
to an untimely yet not uncalled for downpour

You would think that the downpour was
a sign of better things to come and have felt
that your loss was yours alone and all we could
do was gape irrelevantly at the newly-vacant
house or express solidarity with your stoic husband

That early evening downpour washed down
our tears and left behind no trace of the damage
that was supposed to befall all of us
yet all we did was make life as difficult as we could for you
in those Business Ethics classes which we’re now ashamed of

Life has gone on unchanged ever since you left us
it is the magic of being young;
No outsider will be able to share in our grief at this moment
nor will any other person unacquainted with your kind ways
be able to surmise what the finality of your death told us

No other downpour will be able to bring you back
and so it is your deepest memories that we will cling
on to in the most iniquitous of times;
a month and two centuries later, life still hasn’t stopped
questioning our very being without you

I can’t walk past the boulevards of Sainikpuri
without being haunted by the ghosts of you and your smile
The giant oak which houses itself behind your home
smiles occasionally at my childish perambulations
but starts crying when the rain finally stops falling.