The Girl Infront of Me

By Shatakshi Srivastava

Today I met a girl so awesome

Pain so visible in her eyes yet smile like blossom

Only if I had the chance to ask her earlier

Would’ve been my best friend before she could fathom.

The cheeks I saw had absorbed many tears

Who knows from sorrows or from fears

The damp look kinda suited her though

She had carried it gracefully through the years.

The lips which formed the perfect kind of smile

Maybe not perfect but it was her style

The one which sends fireworks of joy 

To see that again I’d come running for a mile.

The fragrance she carried had left me awing

The aura of confidence, of belief, of knowing

Knowing she’ll never be enough she thinks

I wish I could tell how perfect she was as a being.

The way she talked made me fall in love

Voice sounded like it came from the heavens above

Even the words that came were perfectly articulated.

Only she knew the thoughts behind them she shoved.

I remained there standing looking at her

Staring in those eyes and my thoughts became blur

She forced my brain to recalibrate my conceptions

Opening my eyes again and I could see better.

Staring by the glass now

Analogous soul stared back at me

Behind the bubbly smile and the embarrassed laugh

 The eyes who were too tired to feel.

I resisted the urge to caress her cheeks

The one who had absorbed too many tears

Also resisted to pull her in embrace

Keep her safe somewhere near.

She looked like she gave her everything

And that everything took away something away from her

The brown iris looking at me felt

As if it contained everyone’s undone laughter.

The admiration in me turned into pity

Her expressions looked like she found it gritty

Never in her life would she want sympathy

It was only appreciation she craved from the city.

Keeping that aside I found something new

A growing want to befriend her I knew

Everything in me wanted to be her companion 

Needed to be the one she felt close to.

I didn’t know but she felt so familiar

Like for years now I have known her

Like I could feel the ache she was experiencing 

Gradually the situation in front of me became clear.

I looked around and I was standing in my own room

Then the girl I was staring at was whom?

Frantically confused I found myself in front of the mirror

It was my own reflection the realisation hit me soon.

By Shatakshi Srivastava