It took courage to open that black box,

Which had not been opened for a decade.

It was time to face the objects in it,

As I believed that they were long dead.

Found that diary with those cryptic notes,

Which, I only could understand.

Those yellow, crumbling, dog-eared pages,

And the memories loaded with the dates mentioned.

That toothpick, brought from the restaurant we went to,

That kerchief which you chose to leave behind.

After wiping off those lipstick marks from my neck,

You thought our secrets were safest with me and in my mind.

That lone pearl eardrop which had accidentally fallen off,

I hadn't told you that I had found it later.

That invoice of the medicines which you had asked for,

Which had made me feel a man so better.

A cocktail of feelings enveloped me,

Which was a blend of joy and fear.

The joy of meeting that long forgotten version of myself,

And the fear of becoming that later.

*

Jay Jagdev | 8^th March 2024