The Illicit Concern Of People Who Once Loved Each Other

Having said goodbye ,

you had wrapped it around your head 

that you weren't wanted any longer,

not even the trickle of words 

and life consumed you ,

took out the sting of bitterness 

except that you underestimated old habits,

his name still figures in your late night prayers;

the illicit concern of people who once loved each other.

He is curious to know how you are getting on 

especially without him,

he starts with nondescript hellos,

cautious how have-you-beens ,

not asking too much, not revealing too much.

You are a bit disgruntled that over the months and years 

you have been reduced to a few character traits

As though the marks you get and the books you read

 are the only sole markers of you,

you grudge them their presumptuousness about you 

as though they can still claim to say you are such and such

as he once knew you, chained to his memory of you.

but the grounds have shifted,

You no longer have the compulsion to please

 As it used to be when you were younger and hungry for love.

But you are still touched 

by the illicit concern of people who once loved you.

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This poem won in Instagram Weekly Contest held by @delhipoetryslam on the theme 'Breakup'

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