Companion Poem by Tribhawan Kaul

Poor me
fatigued and exhausted
yet homecoming
make me
restless as if,
my home
is swallowing me
in one sip.

Famous authors
stacked on racks seem to whirl
like heavenly bodies in the sky
all (termites) digesting them
but I.

spider-webs decorating wall
house-lizard playing ball
itching bites of bed-bugs
incredible rats race on worn out rugs
singing buzz of mosquitoes
melody of the flies
cricket’s chirp
frog’s croak
keep me awake entire night
yet
fill my loneliness
with their presence.

Hollow would have been my life without their presence
without them, my life is
one of emptiness
total emptiness.