instead of cherry blossoms we had onion peels
to color the air pink before the rain
and after the rain the air was as crisp as the parippu vada
we gobbled down with chaisutta.
did i know that some caves are so huge
that its explorers are frozen mid-rope-slide
by a sudden fear of vast spaces? i didn't
but i could've imagined it even if no one told me.
some caves are like that:
remembered, even if you've never been there before.
i could've imagined it because i know how vast
i feel inside yet how small i am in the eyes of the world
or how small i feel of myself yet how vast i appear in your eyes.
some caves are like that:
forgotten, even if you're right in the middle of it.
i close my eyes and am frozen by a sudden fear
of the vastness inside. i open them and am frozen
by a sudden fear of the vastness outside.
i'm trying to forget that i'm in the middle of all this.
~ ajay
17/5/2024
