KASHANAMNESIS

When the honking Delhi
deafens me dead
Kashmir comes to me
as Saffron
walking out of earth
wearing wistful anklets

When the blistering heat settles
the dust upon my face
Kashmir comes to me
dripping from icicles
thawing my frozen soul

When the dark smear
settles like the night
and street-lights glisten white
like shinning fog
Kashmir comes to me
as a family
enjoying evening tea
around gas-light
and I hear
cows returning to calves
without master's call
after grazing carelessly
in spring sun

When darkness gnaws the buildings
and creeps in the soul
Kashmir comes to me
as lungs satiated
with Chinar smoke
of autumn leaves
burning by roadside

When everything is still
silent, somber and shivering
Kashmir comes to me
as Kangri, as Samovar:
my heart, my soul

And when nothingness cyphers

Kashmir unfurls under my skin

as your touch

Kashmir then comes to me

as balloon to a child

waving like a flag