Unfilled Void – Utkarsh Tripathi

Every sunday morning I woke up before the clock struck five;
Put on my jogging shoes walked out of the house and felt alive;
‘Tis strange as my mom puts it,cause a sound sleeper i always was;
To wake up so early on sunday,she saw neither a reason nor cause;
And neither would you,if you know me even a little or too well;
For i am the type of person who cant wkae up to his alarm bell;
Thus ma was right to find my behaviour strange and funny;
But the reason I had would give any author a run for their money;
You see there was this temple which was right besides our place;
Once upon a time I chanced to meet a beauty there,she had an angelic face;
A little snooping around unearthed the reasons of her frequent visits;
She was a religious girl,every sunday at 5 she came to visit aarti and sit;
I was an atheist,i laughed it off and decided to forget her and look away;
But next sunday I was there at 5,my first crush had the last say;
It was not long before she finally noticed that not everything was fair;
She finally realised I was less interested in god and more in her hair;
My frequently passed looks changed into frequently passed smiles;
She used to blush when i caught her looking at me every once in a while;
As time started passing by we started to get closer;
She was my first love,i still wonder why did she love such a loser;
And so an year had passed and my sundays were all rosy;
Till suddenly one sunday morning she was no where to be seen;
Though it irked me i convinced myself she must have fallen asleep;
But as the time passed by she still did not come and it troubld me deep;
So when the clock struck nine i decided to check at her place;
When I reached there I saw everyone walking around with a gloomy face;
It felt strange to me that everyone there was wearing white;
And suddenly i saw the picture on the wall,and it struck me as light;
The photo of my angel was stuck up their at the wall;
There was a garland around it,great and heavy was my fall;
While she was out in the garden,her lively smile smill plastered on that face;
Even in death my silent beauty,was oozing love and grace;
I stopped breathing,my head was spinning,my vision suddenly was blurred;
I felt a hand on my shoulders,I was greeted in a voice unheard;
“she asked me to give you this” a packet was thrust in my hand;
I could not move or see who it was,my world had crumbled like sand;
It was hours before i came to my senses,and slowly walked back to my place;
Each step i took felt heavier than the last,with tears streaming down my face;
I stopped at the place I had met her first,it was a smallish empty park;
I looked at the packet in my hand,covered in paper dark;
I tore it open,tipped it out and guess what fell on my hand;
A piece of paper with few words,and her lovely red hair band;
With trembling hands and blurred red eyes,i read what she had sent;
“have faith” is all that was written on it,i didnt know what she meant;
I folded the paper kissed it once and put it back in bag;
the hairband i just kept in my hands,it was as soked with tears as a rag;
And so i started walking back It felt like going through hell;
Till i heard a chiming close by,it was the temple bell;
As i looked by,it finally dawned on me,the meaning of her parting words;
She wanted me to keep visiting this place,And keep feeding the birds;
And so it was for the 3 years left,Every sunday was the same;
I was their by 5 in the temple shed,be it storm or be it rain;
Sometimes when wind or passing gale would chime the morning bell;
I knew she was there smiling upon me,telling me all was well;
And now at 6 in a place far south when I sit here and I think;
I sometimes still here that bell,I can still see her smile and wink….