A Stranger

By Suhas Reddy

You let a stranger in

At two AM when it started to rain.

You used to love it,

The cold wayward fall from the skies

That burnt your skin

And made you smile and dance.

But now you look for warmth

And clothes to hide your scars.

He tastes like burnt cigarettes

Of someone else's past

But you love the way he makes you high

When your lips entwine.

It's like making love to poems,

You move your lips

From one word to another

Slowly trying to remember why it feels

So familiar.

Then you lay down,

Naked against your favourite books,

And talk about the stars,

For the question in your mind

Is about existence.

But you have warmth now,

Albeit one

You'd have to let go the next day.

In a random place,

In a random stranger,

You look for familiarity.

Somehow, Somewhere

You have lost something

Or Someone.

And that left a hole in your heart

That you don't know what to do with.

That eats you alive.

By Suhas Reddy