in dreams seen over many years

i call your office.  you are in a meeting.  i call back again and again and again.  in dreams seen over several years.  you are still in a meeting.  the walls are of steel.  as if you work in the vault of a bank.  

i have just missed you.  i was at the same place through which you passed a few minutes after.  i keep missing you.  in dreams seen over several years.  i smell the rajanigandha they put in the very big vase just next to the elevator you took to go up to your room.

you are sleeping.  turned away into the heart of the bed.  i can’t see your face.  in dreams seen over several years.  you pull the “chador” closer to you.  you are cold and the window next to the bed is open.  i cannot close the window.

i call your name but you cannot hear me.  you are walking into a clock that strikes 9 am.  in dreams seen over several years.  the lapel of your jacket is flapped wrong and you reach out to put it in place.  i call your office.  you are in a meeting.  the dream starts again.

you hand me jui flowers.  i take them in my hands and wear them in my hair. contentment in Lal Paar.  i turn around and you have gone.  in dreams seen over several years.  you come just as often as you leave and i am not certain if you are here or if you are not.