The Leakage

By Vidhi Kotak

On some nights, fill me up with people.

Fill me up with those who loved me.

Fill me up with the warmth of their palms.

Those minds that think of me in solitude.

Fill me up with our forgotten calms.

Fill me up with the tunes of their saddest songs;

with the way, they used to look at me.

Fill me up with the charm of their misspelled words;

with the sounds of how they used to say my name.

Fill me up till I am full-

full of their known wholeness;

like how a book swells a little, after being read.

Fill me up with their names and breaths,

layered and woven gently together.

If all last things are deeply cherished,

then fill me up with their parting hugs.

Fill me up with their bodily spaces.

For their summation is what I am-

-and my heart is leaking through a hole.

Fill me up with the scent of their homes.

On some nights, fill me up with people.

By Vidhi Kotak