HALF
SAID, UNSAID
-
Tapan Kumar Pradhan (India)
I
must confess now
It
was me that day
That
anonymous letter in pink
You
saw in your yellow notebook
I
was the writer
How
I managed it
Still
I do not know
I
remember I had walked on tiptoe
When
the boys were not looking
I
thought you would know
But
you looked so normal
And
an entire winter passed
Words
were frozen like ice
I
thought of burning them on my stove
But
only the papers would turn to ash
Words
will remain etched on my wall
What
was half said or unsaid
Need
not be said again
Perhaps
you already knew
Or
you might have guessed
It
will not make any difference
Now
if the words die with me
I
have had the final solace
Having
uttered them to myself
Before
my shattered glass mirror
Many
times over
I
live now amid these stacks of paper
Which
have walled me around since
And
I shall live on those memories
You
should be at least glad to know
You
gave me all my memories
****