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6

Poetry

Distance

Aditi Mishra

Silent whispers of beating nights
seeping through cobalt sounds
of howling gusts in distance
rejuvenate the widening flare.

Sheepish silhouettes of curtains
draped in chequered-print aprons
sway in nods as approving wives,
yet shivering through anxieties.

Fingers trembling in fear
reach out to the bed stand
dropping frozen to darkness
failing to hold your hand again--
sticking to lost memories
failing to hold warmth again.

How much is that distance?
You often used to say--

Desire to thrilling freedom,
mistakes to exhilarating forgiveness,
tears to exhumed liberation,
shudders to soothing sighs.

Walking afar to coming back
between nights of yearning,
hiding faces behind cramped walls
of loneliness, of grief, of innocence--

Beyond closing doors of anger
midway to soft nostalgic dreams,
peeping through corners of eyes
drenching crevices of barren hearts–

the distance we need to cover
the distance that holds us
is always of four warm fingers.

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