J.U.- Past and Future

And sometimes
We carried on
2 ruppee worth
love affairs
Between
puffs of smoke
The boy
in horn-rimmed spectacles
Desperately
Trying to catch a kajol’d eye
With his eager verses-
But then
2 ruppees
was worth something
Those days…
In Milon Da’s canteen…
Steaming cups of lemon tea
One for you
And
One for me…

And someday
Caught unaware
in those glass revolving door
of one of the fancier resturants
-Momentarily discomposed-
It’s you , I see…
I hear you now write
impassioned letters
To several papers
Not a flicker of recognition
behind the worn-wire frame…
-We are both past our poetry, you see-
-But with the first bitter tang
of cool iced tea
In the flash of a match-
You’ll remember me!
___________________________________
Dedicated to all those
who have maroed line and thek …
Behind canteen corners and corridors
Who once consumed tea
Subsisted on peanuts in penury
And have now graduated
to life
And to
coffee!!