The heart of it all

The heart of it all had everything I never thought it could hold.
It held grudges, it held promises, it held memories
At the heart of it all, I found words, said and unsaid.
I found messages never forgotten,
I saw scratches on the walls, bruises.
I saw stories, some brought me to tears
I found fears, some that were in corners,
Some that came from the dark.
In the dark, I found another heart.

The heart of it all had a cage of anger
But it did not own the keys to let it out.
It had a lot of empty spaces...
Maybe no one cared to fill it,
It held onto lies told,
It had boxes of truths that went untold.
But the most daunting find
Were the restrictions of the mind,
All stacked up and labelled too.
"He's not for you"
"You can't do this"
"RIP Logic?"
It made me sick
At the heart of it all,
I didn't think I'd see
Everything that came between you and me.

Image courtesy: Vanora Vaz

Aster

"I knew you'd come" she said, with a smirk. Her body eased at the feel of warmth beside her.
The skin on their hands barely brushed against each other. They kept their space.
He smiled too.

She thought about the excuses he might have had to make up at home to leave at this hour just to be with her.

The summer breeze gently blew sending dust around the place leaves and piece of them too.

This was where they met most nights. Sometimes she sat there alone, sometimes he did. 

It didn't matter, they weren't there for each other.
"Do you think that that star there has been up there very long?" She asked, pointing towards the sky.
He gazed, he didn't speak when he had no answer.
"I think she's been up there very long. Like she died when she was a child and her parents mourn her death everyday."
"Why do you think so, Aster?"
"It looks like it has a sad story"
He chose not to reply.

Again silence over took them. They lose themselves while gazing beyond the city lights, into the night. Sometimes, if the moon was too bright, it would be the topic of their conversation. But most nights they spoke of lives that have passed on to become stars. 

Her eyes sparkled with the reflection of the daintly lit up sky. He sometimes preferred to look at them instead of the stars.
Her lips were pale. Her face, tired
But her eyes shone, like she longed to take off. There was a fire in them, one that was slowly dimming day by day. And that, he had noticed.

Somewhere, mid thought, she turned to him and asked him "Why did you come? To look at me all the while?"

"You asked me to"

"Say you wanted me to"

"Ha! You're a sly one"

"Okay fine"

"Don't come here alone so often, it's not safe" he said, holding her hand.

She didn't like that he chose such a beautiful night to bring this up again.
She answered by squeezing his hand a little.

"How am I alone?"

He smiled, not knowing how to answer. But it had been two years now. They'd meet on the town's abandoned  water tank. Lay there, quietly, comfortable in each others presence, talking only if and when required, every time she wished for him.

And on days she didn't wish for him, she looked out for him in the sky.

Today, he was with her. Until the sun rose of course.

And when the first beams of light began to show, she drew out of a seamless slumber, only to find her hand empty.

She made her way back home, sure to reach before they all woke up, sure that he was looking down upon her, showering kisses every time she longed for him, wishing stars came out in daylight too.