What Have You Done To Me? Poem by Arun Maji

this sky, this moon
this solitude-
and I am/ alone in terrace.

and then-
there you come-
with smiling eyes
dancing hips
playful bosom.

softly you come
gently you touch.
you whisper-
'why are you so sad? '

don't you know?
don't you know-
my sorrow, my grieving
my ache, my pain within?

you are here
yet, you are nowhere.

in whistle of wind
I hear your whisper;
in murmur of leaves
I hear your laughter;
in smile of moon
I see your gesture.

in joy, I stretch arms to embrace you
in ecstasy, I open lips to kiss you.
alas!
My hands end up/ embracing emptiness
my lips end up/ kissing darkness.
my heart aches, soul weeps,
tears roll down my cheek.

the bliss of silence
turns to curse of loneliness.
the smile of moon 
turns to ill fate's ugliness.
the whistle of wind
turns to painful noise.


why your presence
brings me so much laughter:
but absence/
brings me so much despair?

why your kiss so short lived
but agony of my lips/ so permanent?
why your whisper so sort
but cry of my soul/ so eternal?
why bliss of your bosom so little
but starvation of my heart/ so enduring?

Then- moon hides
in depth of darkness;
night embraces
painful silence.

and with them-
my hope sinks/ into abyss of despair;
my heart aches/ with soft murmur.

see,
even moon can not witness me writhing.
night can not watch me crying.

what have you done to me?
what have you done to me?

it's strange that-
you pain me so much
yet, my love for you grows deeper.

you hurt me so much
yet, my craving for you grows stronger.

what have you done to me, my love
what have you done to me?

© Arun Maji