The Rolling Dice Poem by Shipra Agarwal

He spotted her in a crowded restaurant
Eyes laughing, brows raised in a taunt
Head so proud that he was torn between the dual urge:
one to kneel beside her, other to crush her down,
and when he does that he knew, he'd laugh and cry, gasp and sigh aloud.
He stood rooted at a spot, unable to move away or towards her
A step closer and he would dive nose down into a deluge of emotions
that would drown away every last peg of sanity he was holding onto
But if he let her go today, would he ever be able to feel this way again?
Unknown to him, a die had started rolling…

She couldn't remember the first thing she had noticed about him
May be it was the gentle smile that lit up his entire face
Or perhaps, the fierce loneliness he kept locked and guarded in his eyes.
All she knew was that she could no longer have a moment of peace
until she knew every fiber of his soul & every fold of his skin to the last mole.
She wanted to hurt him, hug him, break him, kiss him, all at the same time
and knew in that instant, that everything she called ‘life' would end
if she were to walk towards him and touch his arm
But if she let him go today, would she ever get a second chance?
Unknown to her, a die had started rolling…

The dice kept rolling for a long long time, moving closer all the while
They lived and died a thousand times before their eyes met again across another room.
He noticed that her laughter had subdued into a careful smile
She saw that he had learned to accept the world around him.
The rage in them both had been tamed by the whip of time,
But the memory of it was shining in the flames of their eyes.
The dice moved in a slow staggering motion now
so did the world around them, as they walked towards each other.
Without a word, she moved into his arms
He held her like a secret he would never let go.

Somewhere far away, the dice struck each other and cast a perfect twelve
The hand that had rolled the dice gave a knowing smile.