She was in the park by seven
anxiously waiting, hoping he would come early today,
looking at the corner bench - their usual seat
worried, would it be easy to leave all this behind
and run away to a faraway world
away from the memories that clawed to her heart,
run away to somewhere they could live together
as one, again.
But he was busy, gambling as usual,
lost track of time
till he was out of every single dime,
till it was dark outside and the clock quickly moved towards nine,
till he couldn’t even stand straight, forget about walking a mile,
forgetful of the promise, the promise of moving away to a new land,
with the love of his life, the promise of leaving behind
all his bad habits, of which gambling was one, and alcohol another;
A promise of leaving them here, in this trodden land
where he had moved a decade ago, left his native town
to make a life for himself, but found himself stuck down
by habits he couldn’t get rid of
by struggles that threw him to these highs
in a want of escape, in a want of peace,
And then one day, five years ago,
when he was half lost, in a drunken state
sitting on a park bench, his eyes met her frown,
never had he seen a prettier face
for the first time he wanted to be able to speak and not stammer
for the first time he wanted to be able to walk with a steady gait
for the first time he wanted to be a good man
even though he didn’t quite understand what it meant-
'being a good man'; but he wanted to do whatever it took to be one, for her.
Hearing his stutter, she felt sad for the poor soul
and accompanied him home that day, and every day since then
With time he became sober and polite and a gentleman;
until last month, Yes it was last month
when they lost their first born
She couldn’t stop crying, and he couldn’t take it anymore,
She was helpless, and he tired of the cries and screams
those that fell on his ears, and those that he swallowed dry;
In search of comfort he went back to his momentary highs
leaving her alone, to deal with the sorrow
So went a week, and another, and another
till he found her again on the park bench
where they had met five years ago for the first time.
She wanted a divorce, she wanted to leave him behind
in this trodden land which killed one year olds,
one years olds who playfully snuck out of the house,
when the door was left open,
She wanted to run away, she said this with the same old frown
the one that he had come to love,
the one which he noticed for the first time five years ago
the one that dissolved his miseries,
but the sparkly eyes were now replaced with puffed circles,
- a count of the nights spent waiting for him to return.
He was reminded of his love, his want of becoming a good man,
he was sorry for his recklessness, she could see that
she always saw through his drunken state, inside those eyes.
They would go together, in search of a new light,
reminded of the frown before it was nine,
today he left with a steady gait,
to the park bench where they had first met
today he will not stammer
but hand in hand they will walk, steadily, to a faraway world.
Maniishark 