There was this woman

there was this woman

shawl around her neck

sitting just right there

front-right from me

on the train to yotz

 

the light didn’t come from anywhere

and the windows

were more like frames

showing places

I don’t remember visiting

 

I was scribbling

nothing important

just my thoughts

spilling into paper

like they already knew the way out

 

she leaned over

"you write?"

I didn’t say yes

didn’t say no either

 

but she

took the pen

the book

like it was always hers

like I had been holding it for her

without knowing

 

said,

"what if I wrote something?"

and before I could breathe

she did

 

"प्यार और ज़िम्मेदारी ना,

दो अलग-अलग ज़बान जैसे हैं…

और मैंने कभी नहीं सीखा

कि दूसरी बोलते-बोलते

पहली कैसे संभालूं।"