when times get bad,
when the skies turn grey,
when your hands get burnt,
when water spills over your notes,
when your hand shivers in cold,
when you feel an ache listening to sad songs
remember me, remember me, remember me
when the sun turns to a ripe mango,
its pulp leaking to skies,
when you listen to Hozier or Arijit Singh
when you read Wendy Cope or random trash one-liners,
when you peel oranges, when you cut onions,
when you watch a sad movie,
when you lick your birthday cake off your fingers,
when you bake strawberry pies,
when you hear the clamour of honks,
when you scribble something in your journal
when you warm your hands before a bonfire
do not forget to remember me
do not forget the face of the one kind person
who helped you at the counter,
(it regained your faith in kindness, in humanity just for a second didn't it?)
do not forget the touch of a strange lady
on the bus who helped you find your way,
do not forget the smile of a cute stranger
in the opposite metro coach,
do not forget all the time
you spent over your terrace during lockdowns:
do not forget to live life
do not forget to acknowledge your privileges
do not fail to show gratitude, voice your opinions
do not fail to remember that this world is highly unequal,
it thrives over disproportionate wealth,
it thrives over poverty,
it lives off the sadness and grief,
it lives by sewing lips and amputating hands
that dare to hold pens
that voice against spilling of blood,
asking for respect, not just as someone
of a certain identity but as humans first.
I hope,
(I can only hope can't I,
because that's what humans are good at,
never good at converting hope
to mobilised action,
but only hope, just hope)
no child goes to sleep empty stomach,
nobody freezes to death,
nobody refuses to give up their favourite thing
nobody is scared of living in their own body,
nobody wakes up to smog enwreathing their skies,
nobody is afraid to close their eyes
in case the bombs kill them in their sleep.
I hope their ears listen to the soft
crooning of Christmas songs and lullabies
instead of rattles of impending death
for the crime of being a human.
I hope they'll be in the embrace of family
instead of dismembered parts
of their siblings and parents.
The skies would glitter with stars,
a moment of stretched eternity
instead of airstrikes over empty spaces
that once were occupied
with homes and love and dreams
