Fleet in these moments of idleness.
Do not drear your own company.
Seeking your reflection in the shadows of others
Has to come to an halt,
because the mirror beside the store room door
has never craved your attention , your validation more.
There’s nothing waiting upon you more than this.
Traces the places of your home
which haven’t witnessed your aroma
for so many years now.
Places like your grandmother’s room
where she’s sitting in one corner
chanting some mantras ,
you’ll lend a closer year and would wonder
how religion is tearing apart half of the world
and yet holding together the other half.
Tell her about social isolation
and she will tell you that
how it is her seventy two years of life
described in two words.
Put your arms around the neck of your father
who’s glued to the television
-with his heart racing-
for his family is his only valued asset.
Your hands on those shoulders
wouldn’t be a weight
but would rather help shrug off
the baggage of worries
that’s weighing them down.
Answer to your mother
who’s been calling you for the fourth time now already.
Help her arrange the boxes in the upper shelves
where her hands fall short to reach
and let yourself be surprised
to know that this is all what it takes
to have those lips curled up.
Do not let yourself waste away
or shed off.
Do not get your mental health deranged
or yourself trapped
in the shackles of the guilt
that’s chasing you round the corners.
Instead let the air in the room
be saturated with you in this spilling hour,
catch these fleeting seconds by the finger
and tuck them under your mattress
for these will be all what you need
when your mind would be racing
racing faster than your legs can
for in that rushing minute
you’ll be already late for the train
one that’ll take back to the place
that smells of everything
but of these moments of idleness.