A Gift Poem by Lenin Meitei Thingujam

I want to carve your name in the sky,

And sing it to the tune of the whistling winds.

But here I am,

Chewing on nuts and bolts,

In the name of survival.



I remember once I lived,

And put messages in bottles by the sea.

Now I am mummified in a raging void-

A zombie with a painted smile

Carrying in my soul a Botox induced numbness.



I want to fly you across the moon,

And freeze the moment in the flow of time.

But look where I am-

Digging chasms around me,

An island I am in a dry ocean.



I know once I was feeling,

And made paper boats in the rain-

Now I am imprisoned in a black hole

A chimera with a death wish

Blackened by night, a moonless night.



You cried monsoons,

And “Spring has come! ”, you told my barren ‘heart’

Toiled through the flames,

To bring to life a nursery of hope

But all it gave you was a stillborn score.



You remember Davy Jones?

Like that pirate I ripped out my hurting heart

And locked it away inside a witch`s spell

On this day, my lady love

I give you the key to that forgotten fable.