Friday, September 16, 2011

Pills or Reasons

You ought to have reasons for your feelings.
Or pills. 
You cannot have a cold despair come
and sit in your heart just like that.
Not in the middle of a sunny day.
Not without a reason. Have a pill
If you will. 
See a shrink.

I was sad the other day. Just sad. 
For once, sad was the apt word.
It closed with the airtight click of a tupperware lid.
Language sufficed, and that almost cheered me up.
But a friend said, "Don't despair." 
He could see clearer than me
the weekly forecast to the weather in my heart.

A poet suggested I keep myself at arms length.
It became hard to navigate crowded streets
and subway stations. My arm is long
and it slams across the faces of multitudes.

I now sit with the sadness,
the despair and the arm reddened with the slam
of faces passing by. Myself sits close by,
for fall has arrived
and a sudden chill makes you want to huddle
with whoever's closest. 

2 comments:

Deepan Kannan said...

Lovely Ani!!!

Vasu said...

Hugsies! Don't be sad, sending you bright, big, smiling sunflowers from here. Catch it!
-Vasu