Parapets

The white cement chipped off the edge,

Bird poop scattered parapet.

I had climbed out of my concrete,

A high rise of seventeen,

Vertigo.

Drop.

Dead.

Suicide.

Thats what others thought,

Every time I would sit for hours,

On the white chipped, pigeon poop

Parapet.

I sat there quietly,

As memories appeared,

Drenching my parched soul,

And blurring my glare.

It is here where I first felt the wind,

It is here where I first blew the rings,

It is here where I first touched your lips,

It is here when I first thought of sins.

It is here, where I first restrained,

When the edge lured me

To fly with the wind,

And enter a world,

Free from sorrows and pain.

It is here, when I first spoke to you,

Away from millions of miles,

Overlooking a muddy football field,

Where local stars played their sport, 

With heart and style.

It is here, where I saw the world moving,

With an unknown pace,

While I rested in disguise,

Amidst a rapid moving maze.

It is here, from where, 

She took her one last flight,

When her girl child was aborted,

After 210 torturous nights.

It is here, where he first intoxicated himself,

To give up on academics, and fly far away.

It is here, where our hands, 

Had shakily touched,

When he said the three magical words, 

Next to the melting wax. 

It is here, that I felt scared,

To go to the other side,

It is here, where freedom dwelled,

Away from over crowded rooms,

And bourgeois lifestyles.

It is here, where I first read, 

The iconic lines,

'Etu Brute'

As tears filled my eyes.

It is here, where I hummed Tagore,

As he caressed my hair,

Miles away through a magnetophone,

Over chat windows shared.

The parapet is no more,

As I visit back my dorm, 

Of 13 years and 23 days,

Of a boarding school in Kalimpong.

Expansion and renovation has made the school pay,

Crores of rupees to make false parapets every day.

The parapet is no more,

It has died a silent death,

Without vicious complaints,

Or any regrets.

I wish I am a parapet,

In love and in life,

A space for deep reflection,

Amongst crowds of infinite disguise.