But I Shall Tell

Chapter 11 - Chocolate Bar.

2015

The clouds are white below.

---

To seek the land of another dream
Not knowing where I stood
As no man ever did

I know what made you cry, tortoise.
I know.
So, I said bye to your back.

"Well, then," you measured
From the rooms of your heart
Asking no permission,

Above the fallen flowers at your feet.
No, not like the red roses!
I counted, I did.

If suddenly you forgot,
I wished.
But none mattered.

---

"That's a nice poem," came a voice.

No birds were visible to the sight. Nor any valleys or mountains or anything apart form the light white clouds. Massive blocks of cotton clouds.

"Thanks," Maan said. He looked from the window of the plane to the person sitting beside him.

"I don't see a title," the voice again.

Yes, there was no title to the poem yet, everything but the title. Maan was in search of a title in the clouds. But did they have any answers?

"Not Like The Red Roses," Maan said, without any second thoughts. But did he mean the title was going to be the same? Was he going to change it later?

"I'm Ashley, and I like it." Ashley said.

"Maan," he saw her smile while for the hand shake, "and this is my first time," Maan said. There was life in his eyes. He shook her hand firmly.

"Do you have more of those?" Ashley said, pointing at the laptop with he eyes.

"It's costly." Maan said, and laughed. He knew she meant the poems, but he wanted it this way.

"I can pay if you like," Ashley said and laughed too.

The sun was bright to the skin and the window was open. They were kilo meters high from the land and sea. It was a flight from Bangalore to Amsterdam. The flight was full and had passed few hours so far.

"Here," he handed the laptop he was holding. "It's all yours, Ashley." Maan said.

She took hold of it and placed pulled the plastic in front of her seat making it a comfortable place to keep the laptop. She placed it and read the next poem with interest.

---

*Sailor Moon*

What have I now, is an empty dream.
I have seen, lands away and nothing
And I have walked.

"And which bird and which branch?", you asked.
For a seed once planted, an old tree
And a sailor moon on it now.

And the throne that sits on blood
"My Heart"
I did cry, I lied. Or did I?

An empty dream I have walked,
For countless days and countless nights
So, What have I now?

---

"My friends will go crazy when they hear I have met a poet. You write nice." Ashley said, with a tiny smile starting to tug at the corners of his lips.

"I'm glad you like them. Hardly an audience pleaser." Maan said, and removed a Clif bar from a small plastic bag which was on his lap. "One?"

She took the bar for an exchange of another bar. She too was carrying a chocolate bar. "Damn, you have a similar habit as my besti." Ashley said.

"Does your best friend happens to dislike Mushroom and Tofu by any change?" Maan said, he took the chocolate bar from her and kept it in the plastic bag by showing that he will take it later.

"I will be dead, how did you know?" Ashley said. But she did not smile, there was a surprise look on her face.

Was she playing the good girl game? Easy to get?

"Stop, I'm seriously allergic to Mushroom and I hate the slimy tofu shit." Maan said, taking a bite of the Clif bar (energy bar) that he was holding. It tasted good. The flavor was of crunchy peanut butter and not of chocolate.

"My besti is the same case, and I swear, I'm not kidding either," Ashley said. She looked cute. Like the girls who liked visiting places for bucket list.

"Hope she is not married, cause I am looking someone with my taste. And I'm seriously kidding." He took another bite of the Clif bar.

The plane shook a bit and came to it's original position. The clouds were the same, white blocks of candies.

"Here's the thing," she made a serious face, like about to deliver a tragic news. "She is." Ashley said.

What now?

---

*Diary of Another*

So, I'll hold on to my dreams
And the diary of another
For nobody, and all the birds.

And, into them, I'll walk
A little by little
Seeing tortoises, then crossing bridges.

I'll know of the rusty trees
And the vultures on it, that once sat
For its eggs now lie, on the ground.

The singing reeds, that meets the river.
And the mad rivers, that meets the moon.
I'll picture thee.

I'll stand, and stand
With the only lamp, that my hands once grabbed
In the dark snow one early morning.

I am aware, my Rain.
For I am the pebble, your drops that touches.
Another, your diary said.

---

Ashley looked impressed.

"Amsterdam, is that your last stop?" Ashley asked.

Her eyes wanted to the answer to be "NO". A curiosity,a wild cat.

"Let me guess, your friend is not in Netherlands." Maan said, and had finished the energy bar by now. He put the empty cover in the plastic bag for later to throw.

Well, you couldn't throw it outside of the window or could you?

"Na."

---

*The Fairest Meadows*

In fire, in fire, and above the mountains, sunshine.
And then I count the less of you of mine.

I wonder,
Will they ever tell the stories, of us being together, and close?
The dressed dead flowers. The fairest meadows.

The cold cuddles that were once lost while crossing roads.
I see them now, in the shrinking self hugs and nods.

I once saw a princess holding like an orthodox.
I once saw a green tortoise teddy bear and a fox.

---

"So I take it, you were visiting Bangalore and you're headed home, to ...Paris?" Maan said, with narrowed eyes.

They were flying over Afghanistan by now. Some portions of the clouds had holes in them and the land below was visible. A wonder what we think of the clouds and how they look from up close. The mountains below were to tiny.

"Yes, and no." She had turned on to the next page. "It was a tourist visit to Bangalore and I'm going to ...Toronto." Ashley finally said.

So she gave out her location, and now waiting for his location to be know.

"I would definitely like to meet your best friend in that case."