By Bhavna Jain
On an evening
With an orange sky
I looked into the great wide open
Thinking about what’s to be
And what’s already been
With nowhere to be
Just my cats and me
Thoughts on a fleeting spree
With nothing to do
But a lot to be done
Tales to be spun
Then it began to chime
Bringing me back into time
Lately, the object had been of no use
Just the world and its muse
But pick it up I did
Though I’d rather I didn’t
But eager to see who it was
I slid it open after a small pause
Hello, she said, and I smiled
Hello, I said it's been a while
It was a friend, she would be visiting
I thought this surely would be interesting
What would she like to do
What would she like to eat
I began to fret and fear
As the time of her arrival came near
I’ll be a good host I promised myself
And got to it quickly, the house wouldn’t clean itself
I cleaned up my act and filled up the racks
In the coming evenings, we spent time
Catching up on old things and wine
She spoke of things that almost felt mine
Somehow, each of our stories was familiar
We spoke of our children growing up
We spoke of our kittens and pups
Of marriages that split
Of life’s funny wit
Of careers destructed by choices and fate
It felt like my soul had regained her mate
The days passed on
And then it was time
We said our goodbyes
Clean and tight
No cries, no mush
Just wishing each other luck
A few days later, on a late evening
I looked into the great wide open
Just my cats and me
With nowhere to be
It was as if my childhood had come up close
Highs and lows
Told me things I wanted to hear
And this time, the sky seemed clear