Question

Are you reading this or just staring at what is written?

Are you curious about the theme or just skimming to reach the end?

Are you a seeker or a sage?

A shoulder or a shadow?

Does it bother you if someone stares at you?

Or are you happy to be the object of some gaze?

Have you felt waves crash behind your earlobes,

Gliding through your body 

Awakening your desires.

Desires? Sensual desires,

Disowned in public

Hidden carefully 

Beneath the folds of your skin

Occasionally peeping and whispering

While you are asleep.

Only to stir and tease

Your sanity.

So are you thirsty?

For what is to unfold

Between the words and your thoughts

Tip toeing on the rope of curiosity and expectation

Your eyelids flicker like candles 

on a windy night

with no streetlights to comfort,

an occasional rustling of leaves 

Giving you company.

Ah…how long does it take

For this to end?

The power-cut, the night 

Or the poem?

Oh, just a moment,

Let me remind you

In the itinerary of life

Often you skip the self

And go on sewing others on your dress

But be careful,

Don't prick yourself in the process.

Radhika Menon is a content writer and freelance copy editor from Kerala. When she's not writing, you can find her binge watching her way into the world of witches, gypsies and dragons.