In the moment I stared

A poem about first love.

Peaceful it was

Yet devastating

To let you pass

Out of my being

The zenith of my life

Lost its meaning

And for what I strive

Could no longer I bring

In that moment I stared

At the empty streets

And saw a man with beard

Shout with bliss

In that moment I stared

At the clear blue sky

A small bird fluttered

And zoomed by

And yet again I stared…

At my empty hands

What had it bared?

Nothing? No gains.

I walked down the street

I reached the familiar harbour

The place where we meet

To spend an hour everyday? Indeed.

I stared at the unhurried ripples

And those tiny fishes

Coming up and plunging deep

Not so frequently

Just like those recesses.

Yes, those recesses

In between the class hours

Where I would look at you

And keep wild flowers

In the bench

Whom no one will watch

Except you

I will feel butterflies in my stomach

I will feel new

You will pretend not to look at it

And I will pretend as if

I didn’t see you smiling a bit

And both knew what it meant

And both, too shy to meet

Anyhow at last, I dared

I said it, for I was the boy

And shocked, I stared

You didn’t laugh with joy

At that moment I stared

At your puzzled face

Was it never there?

In your eyes, I couldn’t trace

And suddenly the time stopped

Like river turning into glacier

My throat felt choked

Each second got scarier

For a while, you looked around

Next, you walked away

Me, I was rooted to the ground

Broken hearted, as they may say

And suddenly I saw you

Turn to me and smile

Gradually, a gentle breeze blew

That day, did you actually walk for a mile?

Or it was just the time

Which stopped?

The birds began singing in rhyme

Whose stains, the gardener moped

For a moment I was unaware

And then, my heart sped up

A bunch of dew drops- turned the glacier

And that day, I found my love

Ecstatic, I was

Like a bee

For the sheet of garden grass

Felt very soft to me

And the teacher too

The strict one

Who used to come like a loo

For him my hatred was gone

The world felt a new place

A happier place to live in

To me, God gave all his grace

And stupidly I began to grin

That was the longest day

I remember each second

Smiling which passed away

Without keeping my heart vacant