Making the mistake
of stopping before a rendezvous

Stars spread evenly
    on still dark waters

Fireflies mimic them
   in cavernous cassia trees

The breeze soft-gentle
   is coated with pine

A thirsty deer
   stoops down to the lake

The thirsty lake
   takes a long sip of deer

Ripples of pleasure
   send shivers down constellations

I won’t be able
   to meet you tonight.


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Salil Chaturvedi
salilwheels@gmail.com