Staircase Poem by Pratip Sen Gupta

It might have been night
With the world asleep
And in that crazy silence
It might have been I
Waiting on the staircase
For your footfall

The anklets or bangles
May have given you away
And would I have
Gladly taken

But it was past noon
When you wandered
Down my stairs
And I had to go

Many a verse have I written since
Many a long night have I spent
In reflection
But those were contemplations
Of afternoon
And perhaps
Now I still sit
And wait for your footfalls
On another staircase
But the banister
That separates us
Calls for evening

And I wonder
If there will be
Another night
Another staircase
But the same footfall
I ought to have heard
An eon ago
But didn't

Pratip