Sleepless Poem by Chhavi Anupam

Again the night
will shift
slow, steady, somber,

first the city chaos
will recede
then the traffic noises,

and suddenly
in the middle of the night
it shall be all quite,

it shall be still, very still,
the still you hear,
when the thundering downpour stops

still a few drops
fall unannounced,
from the tree-tops,

or the sound
of the gush of the wind
that slams my door,

only to startle me
that it is your car
that has stopped,

even the passing horns
will make me rush
to the window,

only to decipher
the dark in the dark,
your silhouette…nowhere,

devastated,
I will sob and helpless
my heart will tear,

pressed against the glass
of my window
wet with my tears.

Sleepless, I shall watch
the tranquil,
quiescent stars…afar,

even the twinkling lights
of the plane that passes
at 2 am stark…elate not,

it all shudders
for a while
but that too, trails off,

only to make
me hear
my sobs, …ajar.

As the night deepens
two owls settle
on the electricity wire,

just opposite my window,
chatter…aloud,
they are in company,

are they concerned, I ask
but after a while
they too get tired and retire,

the roses in my garden
that look so beautiful
in the day, inspire not,

in this night they stand,
wrapped up still, dark, distant
blocking all communication.

At 4 am,
from a mosque, I will hear
a cry aloud…Allah-o –Akbar,

someone remembers God
to break the spell
or to break the curse,

of the tormenting night
and to tell
dawn is not far,

I know at 4.30 am
a train will pass
in some distance…it will whistle

and then
a very hazy inky
blue sky will surface,

and then a
few drops of milk shall
be stirred

softly serenely slowly
to make it luminous,
greeted by a faint twitter,

of a lone bird
brown and brave,
from my window,

to be followed
by the musical notes
of several,

soon the sky
will be lit
from pale to fiery pinkish hue.

With this with heavy steps
I’ll return
to my bed,

to be found
sleeping
by the waking world,

…what will
the world think
if it discovers,

…I was sleepless
and spent the night standing
with my face pressed,

against the window
waiting, just waiting
for someone to appear.


****