It comes year after year
Causing him to live and relive, old bitter sweet memories
Oh how much he wished to get rid of them
But no, it’s all about nature and it’s cycle
If there is spring and summer
There will also be the rains and winter
The pain of reliving can never be explained
It can only be experienced, known fully
Only by the one going through it
For him the images of endless cups of tea
At their isolated
favourite restaurant
the romantic movies
they watched together
or the quiet evening strolls in the park holding hands
until the sun went down, saying it’s time to go
images pop up, even as the dark clouds gather
and the rains come pouring down!
Along with those, come the scenes
of their last days together, full of
Misunderstandings and ego clashes
The refusal to take calls, the bitterness
And the final decision to part forever
Deciding, speaking out about parting was easy
The harder part was the reality of living without her
While she seemed to have moved on
For him the periodical arrival of the wretched dark clouds
Was like a chain, chaining him to the past!
Friends, family, well-wishers advised
Ok, ok, “Better to have loved & lost
Than to have not loved at all, but now it’s time to move on”
As if he didn’t know that! Yet there he was in his forties
A helpless slave to the past, destined to run
And rerun images, on the return of the monsoon clouds!
NB: This poem was composed for recitation during the online poetry meet of Seniors Today on 4/9/2026
