An Interval

The road home
today
seems to take so long.

I keep seeing you
in that empty seat-
Excited?
Or was it just another
Cover-up?

It’s so hard to believe
The days flew by,
And again, it’s that
Time of the Season…

Au revoir you murmur;
And you smilingly salute!
I just love it when you do that….

With a sigh now
I unlock the front door,
Oblivious to the frenzy
Of the ecstatic dogs-

I don’t notice the
Aftermath of the tornado
that struck, as you packed!

Au revoir I whisper,
Into the empty home…
And wonder-

Could you not leave
Without going away?

Usha, 16 December, ’07