Hark! The rhythm

Hark! The rhythm. The pellet drum rattles. The dance begins. The creation, the annihilation, the fleeing in-betweens, and beyond these appar...

Monday, August 10, 2015

Uncaffeinated collaborations

Our regular
Long distance call
Rings
With a tone of urgency.
Dad and I collaborate,
Telephonically,
Working out solutions
To some technical glitches
That faze him.
He, narrates the specs
I, jury-rig the solutions
For a 11-year old desktop
That still sits proudly
On my study, back home.
He sounds alert,
Like a sentinel on his duty,
With mom’s best iced coffee
Working through
The complex mesh of
His veins and arteries,
While
The woolly-headed me,
Occasionally drifts off.
Concerned, he asks me
If I need to sleep.
A nonchalant
“Oh, All I need is coffee”
Is what I tell him,
But he chooses to listen instead
To the unsaid
“But somewhere in between
Office and cooking
And laundry,
I forgot to
Purchase the staples.
Again”.
A pause,
Longer than expected,
And it dawns on me,
Muzzy as I am,
That the parent in him
Will worry at
The prospects
Of my sustenance and subsistence.
Luckily, I have the solution
By now.
A dampened
“Good work”
And we chaffer a little
Before saying goodbyes
And goodnights.
A few hours,
And we will be talking again,
Greeting each other
Refreshed good mornings
And embracing
With our words.
Sometimes,

Home has a caller tune.


5 comments:

  1. I like how your short lines echo the give-and-take of a casual conversation. I love the image of the iced coffee working through the "complex mesh" of his veins.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Jennifer. It is pleasure to hear such encouraging feedback

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  2. I love this. It reminds me of my dad. We never, I mean NEVER, talked on the phone but I remember trying to help him with his printer problems via email. It was a whole new mode of communication and very precious.

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    Replies
    1. I am glad you can relate to this.
      I am posted some 500kms away from my hometown so phone is pivotal connection between me and my family. Very precious and very treasured

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Since every thought is a seed, I am looking forward to a delicious harvest.