tales of Suchita

The prognosis was bad
But our enthusiasm was high
Now that we had an expiry on
Our time together
We decided nothing mattered more
Than burying the hatchet
And moving ahead
Like we were starting anew.

This starting anew
We realized soon
Gave us such clarity and determination
We started to preach it to our friends and family
Not letting them pity our positivity
Trying to drown the grief
Behind colours, noise and levity.

But the unforgiving passage of time
Eroded our confidence,
Wiped out our positivity
And reduced us to zombies
Brain dead, raw
And craving the end to come sooner
Rather than later.

Even in the bleakest of times
There was one thing that stayed
Stubbornly alive
It was that hope which carried us forward
And whispered to us a new medium
To bury the pain and tears.

Here’s an empty jar
Hope whispered
Fill it with your dreams, ambitions,
Promises and love
And let it hold on to that
Which you find too tedious to hold.

Renewed, envigored, we started to fill
The jar with our promises.
Hastily scribbled tissue papers
Torn pieces of stationery,
Writing on the back of receipts
Poems torn from newspapers
All of it went into that jar
That contained everything that we needed
But couldn’t hold in ourselves.

The inevitable happened
I left you, one bright sunny morning.
Suddenly that jar of promises
Started to weigh too heavy
So you tucked it away
From mind, memory and eyes
As you tried to live
With a hole in your heart.

One night, when the rains
Reminded you of me
You revisited that jar
Found it hiding behind your clothes
Filled with wishes unfulfilled.

No, don’t cry, I wanted to say
But you hugged the jar and wept
And wept.

When I thought I’d have to intervene
You opened it and noticed
Finally, finally
The red among the white.

Curious you opened it and read
The note I had added there
Just a day before the final one.
It said,
I release you from these promises
Now go, go on, go live your life.

At first, I thought I had made a mistake
When you howled at the note
But then I saw the smile
Like a tiny leaf, braving the winter storm.

I had done well, I realized
As I heard your laugh
For the final time.

---

Written as part of AtoZ. For more, check the Theme Reveal 2020 – 26 Letters of Love.