Distances

If you could

Wait at the other end

I would have crossed the ocean

I would have held the sail

I would have

fought the wind, the waves,

the whirlpool

I would have made it to the shore,

To be with you

And drown in your embrace

You were impatient

And I had distances to traverse

You started moving away

Even as I started moving in

From far I could see

You retreating beyond the horizon

I could no longer reach out

No matter how much I tried

My calls were lost in the air

Heavy between us.

You had reason to keep walking

I lost mine to make a move

Halfway down the road

I saw the end deserted

Retreating, for me

Was not an option

Can a river go back on its course?

It can dry out,

Or simply vanish,

Like Saraswati or Godavari

But then, I could not

do the vanishing act either

I was very much flesh and blood

Though you were becoming

An illusion every passing day

So, walking it was

But not to reach an end

Without any purpose, or reason or logic

Getting caught in quicksand

Being dragged in the pit of nowhere

All became part of a journey

And, interestingly

Without any effort

I did survive

Or may be since I offered

No resistance or fight nor submission

I was given way

To drift, to float, to hover

To follow an illusion

That could not wait for me to reach

And kept moving beyond

Taking me along, at a distance.