Having said goodbye ,
you had wrapped it around your head
that you weren't wanted any longer,
not even the trickle of words
and life consumed you ,
took out the sting of bitterness
except that you underestimated old habits,
his name still figures in your late night prayers;
the illicit concern of people who once loved each other.
He is curious to know how you are getting on
especially without him,
he starts with nondescript hellos,
cautious how have-you-beens ,
not asking too much, not revealing too much.
You are a bit disgruntled that over the months and years
you have been reduced to a few character traits
As though the marks you get and the books you read
are the only sole markers of you,
you grudge them their presumptuousness about you
as though they can still claim to say you are such and such
as he once knew you, chained to his memory of you.
but the grounds have shifted,
You no longer have the compulsion to please
As it used to be when you were younger and hungry for love.
But you are still touched
by the illicit concern of people who once loved you.