Am I Your Friend? — Day One of NaPoWriMo 2023

The sun grazes our tired faces, resting our feet on the stone benches.
While people pass, whose relationships will last?
I ask you — and we share a silent smile, and laugh at invisible jokes;
How long has it been since I said hello?
How long has it been since you’ve become someone I know?

I read poetry, while you read the news,
And I wonder if I ever will admit that you were my muse?
Were you ever ashamed, when my anger boiled over?
When I pointed to you and cried for good measure,
When I laughed with you, and pretended to find treasure?

What is the answer to this crossword? Straight across, 3 letters —
Neither of us knew, wrapped up in our dreams, and our sweaters;
Could you close the window? The air is too cold,
The sun is too bright, and the moon never showed;
And after all this time, would you smile at me?
Would you make those jokes that seemed so silly?
As though no one could understand, but you or me?

Does memory fail, or does it stay locked away —
In the backroads of our mind, where summer never ends?
Fighting and crying over wisps of discord,
Dancing and singing under showers of hope;
You whisper on the terrace, and I wonder why?
Is it because the sky might hear, and ruin the surprise?

Will you know me once more, by the light of the trains?
Will you remember my name, in the scent of the rain?
Would you hold my hand again, as I stumble on the gravel?
Would you exchange shoes with me, put up with my rabble?
How do you remember me, stranger?
How long will it be until we diverge, and remember again?
Those days when I asked you — am I your friend?

Written by Rachana Raman for MTTN

Edited by Advaith Gurunath for MTTN

Featured Image by Rachana Raman for MTTN