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Bleached


Bleached

The fairy lights glow dim,
The air around them blushes yellow,
Bleached.

Nazim didn’t come to college today,
He’s probably too tired from the fast.
His face must look pale.
Bleached.

The floor of my house on Alipore Road
Doesn’t seem to be expecting his footsteps
any longer.
The tiles lie, white and unblemished.
Bleached.

Our plates are no more stained with the yellow of the meat
sent during this time from Nazim’s house.
Mother says “Beef isn’t for us!”
So, our plates lie laden with “our” food.
So, our plates lie white and
Bleached.

I miss the taste of that biryani.
The unrestricted laughter of Nazim’s unbridled voice haunts me still.
He’s not welcome here anymore.
I still meet him outside, not as often.
But our footsteps do not echo together past my threshold.
The times have left my humanity
bleached.

-           Surjo Siddhanta Ray


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