Decades Ago
A decade ago Not long back, one day She stood at the balcony. Her brother’s friend had come to meet him The boy on cycle looked at her blank As if never seen a girl before Or never someone so beautiful Did she match his imagination? Of fictional characters In books and movies. She smiled at him And kept smiling back each time When she knew that he came daily Just to see her, in the evening From the same balcony-road distance Properly maintained; No, the era wasn’t that of the pandemic When people stood at distance And wore masks, Love was always a virus though. She recalls today on the same balcony When the friends are no more there Who claimed ‘You deserve better!’ Seeing his curly hair and skeletal body, And various aspects that were not proper. He no longer comes to see her After standing there for hours Through winters and all summer, Heavy rain not to forget at all; She never made any effort. In the twenty-first century, When parents