Ebilowozo...

I remember standing with you under the fene tree,
We shared ball-gum,
Adding and adding to the mass in our mouths till the money run out
You and I were probably 7 and 8 or 8 and 9.

I remember playing with you and everyone at the swings and in the pool at Resort beach,
I awoke from a nap,
Tried to sleep again because I was anxious on realising we were by ourselves.
You took no notice and just read your book.

I remember your sister's birthday party,
Feeling nervous around you, hanging on to your every word.
At the treasure hunt, I picked a sweet you directed me to
and kept it for more than five years...
First I didn't want to eat it ever!
But then I was a child and knew better.

I knew your phone number by heart,
But did not have the courage to call and speak to you,
I did call though, but hang up just as the receiver was lifted.
No, I did not do it once or twice.

I tricked your dear auntie into reciting all the birthdays she knew by heart,
And listened and listened and listened..
Till September :-)

I had not seen you for years until that time my school visited yours,
You were standing by the chapel when I passed,
That's when I heard it- you said my name!
You remembered me!
We started writing to each other letters after that
I cherished every one.

Then there was that morning in Malawi,
We were chatting and I looked into your eyes
It felt like I had beheld the depth of a beautiful being,
It felt like I was seeing you for the first time!
There was a force... kinda like a magnetic field around you,
I wanted to open my heart to you
And tell you that I could see yours!
I did not know how I could ever recover from that moment.

Many years passed,
Life happened and in many ways I felt like we had grown apart,
But its strange how despite the fact that you were far away,
And I saw you like once a year (if I was lucky)!
In the silences, the phone calls and emails,
I always felt like you got me
In ways that many didn't.

I did not think that you cared for me,
But a part of me hoped that maybe...
Then came that phone call when you said that you did.
I was so angry with you,
How could you have been keeping that to yourself?
(You know that none of your excuses count)

And then came that night in Malawi,
When we finally met again after the years and the phone call,
I had so much to say!
So many questions!
Somehow,
Words faded.
I looked into those eyes again
They said everything I needed to know