I. Preamble
In the margins of a book that was never meant to be read,
we press our signatures like fingerprints on cold glass,
tracing yaad and absence,
kamre humari yaadon se pehle hi saans lete hain,
and the quiet genealogy of shadows that preceded us.
II. Articles of Agreement
Clause One: Love shall be practised in silence,
in the pause between closing doors,
khamoshi aur kaifiyat ka farq hai ek chai
in the folded corners of letters, stacks of newspapers no one reads,
where centuries of chahat coil like smoke.
Clause Two: Desire shall be folded into ritual,
a curve of your hand in mine,
the tremor of fingertips brushing a folded dupatta,
the body remembering what eyes have forgotten,
ishaaray bolte hai, jise zubaan kabhi nahi keh sakti.
Clause Three: Words are currency—
your touch – shabnam on my wrist,
my vaade folded into letters the moon alone reads,
khamoshi thicker than ink.
III. Addendum
We may wander in thought,
while preserving ceremonial elegance.
Let the neighbours applaud, let the music echo,
but in the courtyard, shadows converse,
the chhat listening to secrets we do not speak aloud,
raat aur aangan mein sirf saaye nahi, khayalat bhi ghoomte hain,
the night folding us into its aangan,
teaching patience, teaching distance,
teaching the art of remaining in a single nazr,
a shared sigh, a single saans.
IV. Signatures
I sign with trembling fingers,
you, with eyes that map absence,
nikah sirf kagaz ya siyahi nahi, yeh faasla hai jo humesha saans leta hai –
a sukoon, a sawal, a khushbu
that lingers on hands and memory,
folded into eternity before it is ever opened.
***
Madras Courier originally ran as a broadsheet with a poetry section. It was a time when readers felt comfortable sharing glimpses of their lives through verse. If you have a poem you’d like to submit, do email us at [email protected].
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