All the Things That Never Happened

We never really knew each other, never really had much to say.

Never had that quiet moment when our eyes met and lingered, never let a whole day slip away in stories from morning into evening.

Never stood together beneath the downpour of monsoon, never played hide and seek through the winter fog.

Never reached for you on a lonely afternoon, never walked a long road with your hand in mine...

Never rested my head in your lap and told the sky, “I love only you.”

Never slowly lost myself in the sweetness of your scent, never saw you dressed in blue, a blue sari, a little blue bindi.

Never took a picture together, never filled the walls of my heart with colours of our own.

Never told you that without you, I wear this emptiness every day.

Never told you that so much of my happiness was hidden in your shadow.

And without you, this life I call “being okay” is only another name for pain...