What Silence Said

Susheela Raman

Does the unknown bird enter and leave the cage ?

Paris café.
Our last rendez-vous
Rain swept, backwardscripted windows
Our shrunken heads reading signs and lips
One last dance, broken steps
Before your eclipse...

Was there thunder in your ears?
Mine were full of sand, not hearing
What your silence said
And if I turn around, your mouth open, no sound.
your eyes screaming, retreating into blackness...

A day too late, your news found me at home.
Mind bubbling up,
Angry water refusing a stone,
And then revenge, I felt life surge in my veins
A hunger you would never taste again...

Did you lose your faith in love?
Did you lose faith in human feeling?
Silence...
Did you lose your trust in truth?
Did your heart find no way to healing
Like I lost you?

You left your lovers close behind,
All twisted up in time, you crossed the line.
It's all we have this thin twine, then nothing...
Just the emptiness you carved,
Your spine a lonely blade,
In space...
To the end a dancer...
Beautiful face begins to fade,
Thank you for being my friend...
Beautiful face begins to fade...