Even That Day The Poet Poem by Rati Saxena

Even that day, the poet
was "lonely in the crowd"
the dim light of his two eyes
trembled with the buzz of words
sounds began to hammer the forehead
the poet reached out his hand in panic
a Touch sat on the palm
the poet clenched the palms
as if he was holding onto a fragrance
as if a bird held onto a branch
as if a creeper rested its shoulder on the bough
the Touch
began to hum
the poet began to converse with
the notes despite the thunder of the crowd
the Touch whispered in the ears
"How are you doing?
So lonely until now, but no more? "
the poet heard the Touch in a crowd
now the poet was no more lonely in the crowd
ya, the Touch was lonely without the poet

* (For Kunwar Narayan, the Hindi Poet)