The Reunion Poem by NAYYAR SHABBIR AHMAD

Believe you me when I say
this is it!
I’m madly in love
And, love is definitely here to stay

I’ve never felt like this before
I’ll never feel like this again
It’s a one-off
It really is

Cynics would claim
i feel this way
because my love and I met
whilst on holiday
in sunny Spain

where everyone knows
there’s too much sun
too much sand
and, far too many cocktails
leading to heady nights
- amongst other things!

The standard advice for the besotted is
Come back to the real world
Return to the daily grind
Your head will clear
And, soon you’ll find
your new found love disappear
in double quick time

What complete and utter tosh!
I’ve been in love before
So, I can confirm that
three days
and, three nights of total bliss
were enough to convince me
that this was the real thing

When the holiday ended
the two of us couldn’t bear to part
with each other
But, somehow we did
With promises to meet
three months later
on a return date
(I couldn’t wait)

We choose the neutral territory
of London for our tryst

Would we live up to each others expectations
after all these months of separation
...we wondered?

Then, chided ourselves
Ofcourse, we would!

As expected
on our assignation
we hesitated
but, only for a second
then we fell into each others arms
- where we very rightly belonged!

We celebrated our reunion
by wining and dining
confirming
And, reconfirming
Our resolve to marry each other
and only each other
come what may

We laughed out loud at the crowd of people
who had doubted our undying love for each other
“We’ll show them! ” we swore
“First thing in the morning
we’re going to buy ourselves, engagement rings.”

When the phone rang the next day
I grunted: “Hullo? ” into the receiver
before I looked at the time
and realised, it was way past noon
That’s when I came down to earth
‘Where are you? ” queried a familiar voice
from my office

“Oh, no! ” I groaned, remembering
“You missed the ten a.m. meeting? ” he reproached
“O no! ” I repeated, not knowing what else to say
‘But, I covered for you.”
“Thanks, Mate, ” I acknowledged. “I really appreciate it.”
There was a pause
“What’s the matter? ” he asked
“Nothing. Why...? ”
“You said, your diary was full...? ”
“It is.’’
‘But, you were in bed just now? ”
“I’m ringing off, ” I hastened.”I’m on my way to the office.”

I put down the receiver
and contemplated my love
sleeping blissfully in my bed
She suddenly took on the features of an interloper

Sadly
this wasn’t the Costa Brava
where one idle moment followed another
I had responsibilities here
office to attend
appointments to keep
other commitments
to maintain

As I got dressed I recognised
our time had come and gone
Only I had put off recognising it
until practically the very last minute