When I Am Gone Poem by Santosh Bakaya

WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES
When I am no more around
You will find pieces of paper by my side
Crumpled and ink- stained
And a pen without a cap, lying in wait
To catch those words
Which flew away like winged birds
Hurrying and scurrying
Like Alice's White Rabbit
Mumbling "Oh dear, oh dear, I shall be late."
And, alas, hastily tumbling away through the gate.

When I am gone
By my side you will find
Books of every kind
Dog-eared and book- marked.
A notebook with hurried scribblings
Like feisty siblings fighting on paper
Alas, my runaway thoughts
Entangled and caught
Between lines, no more able to gallop and caper.
Words, furtively written at the dead of night
When the light no longer burnt bright
And a sleepy reprimand went unheeded
"Go to sleep, it's late."
When I go on that eternal date
You will find all these
And also, vestiges of a guiltily eaten ice-cream
A hurriedly eaten midnight feast
The least I could do to pamper that so- called
Gluttonous creative beast
Inside me.

Hang on, you will also find the joker's mask under the bed
The fake smiles absolutely intact on those lips, still red.