THE FOUR SQUARES OF HIS HEART Poem by Tarannum Riyaz

In one square of his heart there is his ten-year-old love for me
in another, is his two-year-old infatuation for a woman he met somewhere
the third square, these days, is occupied by a teenage girl, a neighbour's guest
as for the fourth, it is vacant - so far
and somehow he does justice to each occupant

I know he cannot live without me
yet his eyes light up the moment his flame calls on the phone
as for our neighbour's guest, the teenage girl, well,
he comes to our veranda for a cup of tea with me,
hoping to catch a glimpse of her!

He seems well content with this state of things except
the vacancy in the fourth square seems to trouble him

Such is the heart that God has given him
and I am a part of him (Eve, after all, was made from Adam's rib)

I can feel his anguish and understand,
knowing how simple he is.