TOUCHPOINTS
written by: Dilip Mohapatra
@dilipmo
The other day when
I turned sixty nine
and I sat down to take stock
of the touchpoints
that we continue to share
and tried to make a new inventory
I couldn’t find many
which could be jotted down
and an almost bare sheet
of paper stared at me.
No longer we sit on the
rusty and weather beaten bench
hand in hand
under the acacia tree
in the corner of the park
looking at the moon through
its branches swimming
against the gossamer clouds
as a faint yet familiar tune wafts in
from a distant flute.
The rides on our old second hand
Lambretta in the narrow
lanes of Fort Cochin
in the small hours
soaking wet in the downpours
look so very remote and fuzzy
nor do we take any more
alternate licks
of the silky smooth ‘softy’
overflowing off
the waffle cone.
But still you need my steady hand
to pull up
an obstinate zipper on your hoody
before we go for our walk
that we still take together
in the wintry mornings
and when we return home
to insert the key in the lock
to open the door
and then we sit together
to listen to devotional songs
from the YouTube juke box
playing through Bluetooth.
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