You Know, Don't You

By Rapti Bhaumick

You know that emotion?

When you hear an airplane fly past

And your soul stretches

As does your hand

In the hope of touching wings?

Yes, that emotion.

You know that feeling?

Of comical horror and shame

When you hit the send button

Before you are done

And forget how to delete in the frenzy?

Yes, that feeling.

You know those dreams?

The ones woven from desperation

The ones that only you know

The ones you’ll never share

For fear of being jeered?

Yes, those dreams.

You know that pain?

When you are lost in thought

And walk into things

To the uproarious delight of others

And sheer mortification of dreaming?

Yes, that pain.

You know that fatigue?

The one your bones are made of

The kind that drenches your soul

The fatigue that warps your thoughts

And is not one for words?

Yes, that fatigue.

You know that anger?

The one that comes from succumbing

From giving yourself to others

From failing your own soul

The one that shreds your will

And leaves you tattered?

Yes, that anger.

You know that hunger?

For that one thing out of reach

For that little nugget of happiness

For the clarity that you seek

For the intimacy you crave

The kind that drives you mad?

Yes, that hunger.

You know that light?

The one that tugs on your conscious

The one that shines through shut eye lids

The one that pulls you into now

The kind that makes you hope?

Yes, that light.

You know it all, don’t you?

You, who needs no words

You, who understands the unsaid

You, who walks by me like the star

You, who is part of my soul

You, who are my friend

Yes, that you.

By Rapti Bhaumick