Thursday, February 9, 2012

a stranger's gaze

what does it mean?
does it mean, for instance, 
that you are attracted to me?
as i (sometimes) wish you were
(if you look nice enough)
and are going to send me 
flowers and chocolates to work?
(as the movies say)

or does it mean
for another instance
that you are just
unabashedly looking
because you can

and you believe
or pretend to believe
that i am just feigning discomfort
because i (always) want to be looked at
when actually i am withering
looking myself over
checking if my hair is funny 
or a button undone
finally sighing
and end up walking
with a stiff stride
my face turned away from you
to carefully avoid the gaze

at the end of the day, stranger
i don't want to be gazed at
or "admired" in your language
if admiration comes
at the price of holding my head
so low
that i do not see the way ahead

i just want to walk down the road
and get to my destination



fellow poets on stranger's gaze:
yugzeetah: stranger, my stranger
kay:  नहेर त्यसरी

4 comments:

  1. these words are mine, this is my poem.

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  2. @diti (not aditi, lol): good going, baby. :)
    @yug zee tah: ya sometimes words of others are ours too.

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