Sundaram Chauhan

Tiny Tale – A Poem

I wake up so groggy

Reach out for my phone

Last night was so special

She called me her own…

I read out her message

Yet again – I’m so mad

It still means the same!

Thank God! I’m so glad…

Are we really friends now?

I’m sure that we are

I get ready to go to work

and pull out my car…

All songs that I play

Remind me her face

Those wavy long hair

Her gait and its grace…

In parking I rehearse aloud

The lines I will say

She leaves me so dumb

I’ve got to find a way…

I walk to my building

Looking at every face

She may be in already

So I pick up my pace…

The lift slides open

I step on to my floor

I peek around the office

She’s standing by the door…

My smile grows so wide

She’s flawless in her suit

I unsheathe my pistol

and take the aim to shoot…

A clap on my back then

Makes me whirl around

My boss’s looking back at me

Quite like a drooling hound…

He barks aloud an order

To meet him in fifteen

I nod at him shuddering inside

Just like a frightened teen…

Sitting inside his cabin

He howls about ‘the fault’

I thank God she’s far away

From this brutal assault…

I run back looking for her

She’s nowhere to be seen

With a long face I move out

To swallow some caffeine…

Coming back holding my mug

I peep into her room

I see her smiling face in there

It lightens all my gloom…

She chats away with everyone

But never looks at me

I see her picking up her purse

Then walking out for tea…

I recall the day before

The blunder she had made

And how I’d leaped in front

To shield her from the blade…

Did she really shun me now?

Or I am at mistake?

We talked away the whole night

How could all that be fake?

Telling myself what a fool I’m

I go back to my task

Crunching numbers I sip coffee

Wearing my working mask…

Something of her then reaches me

Before I feel her touch

To pull me back onto the earth

She gives my arm a clutch…

Lunch in café. Right Now

She orders in her style

Finding me kind of dumbstruck

She flashes me her smile…

Clouds of doubt over my head

The ones that I had made

Her sunshine working through them

So quickly do they fade!

I spring up and join her

Shivering I don’t know why

I’ve never felt so ecstatic

I’ve never felt so high…

I summon up the stud in me

And try to look composed

Her eyes boring into mine

I feel so much exposed…

I too look at her openly

And keep holding her gaze

Lashing out with her eyelashes

She sets my heart ablaze…

She tells me she regrets it much

My whipping for her sake

She can no longer hide herself

My job is on the stake…

Whatever I’ve done she says

To save her from the boss

She would accept the blame herself

And make up for my loss…

I ask her not to bother much

I have things in control

I tell her just to feed herself

And not her guilty soul…

We prattle away the hour

Then stay and talk some more

I dream about my future

And the gems it has in store…

I come back swaying in bliss

Her voice replayed in mind

I listen to the whole of it

Then put it on rewind…

I’ll offer her a ride tonight

And drop her to her place

The prospect of being with her

Again lights up my face…

I finish off my work in time

And dash back to her seat

I find her system switched off

Her workstation so neat…

I kick myself for reaching late

Has she left for the day?

I ask myself now what to do?

To leave as well or stay?

I go outside to take a stroll

And gather up my thoughts

I need to tell her how I feel

And free my heart of knots…

I play in mind the dialogues

And then take out my phone

Spotting a bench under a tree

I sit down there alone…

It’s then I look across the road

And find her standing there

Sniffling and staring at her phone

So messy is her hair…

A blue sedan screeches in front

Steps out a tallish dude

He pulls my girl into a hug

Now that’s my life – so screwed!

She pulls away shaking her head

But gets into the car

I look at them seething inside

What a day I’ve had so far!

Leaving behind a corpse in me

They fade into the crowd

I’m on my knees thinking of her

Wailing within so loud…

© 2020 Sundaram Chauhan

Image Credits: Pinterest

78 comments

  1. Oh dear dear! I was so liking this dudes up and down ride through the day, till this happened in the end! Now feeling sad for him. Office romance is outright dangerous, oppurtunists might exploit you till the end. The only predictable character in the office is the boss 😛

    Your writing is brilliant though – as usual 👌👌👌

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  3. I was on the edge with all the hope, the disappointment and again the hope. I was actually cheering the whole time for this guy. He was already so much in love. The ending was definitely not something I was rooting for. I can feel that guy’s disappointment.
    Loved this post. Brilliant writing from you.

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    • Hey…thanks so much…really glad I could involve you in there…and happy I posted it. It’s an old writing, I trashed cause I thought it was trashy…😁😁 But somehow stumbled on it again. Made some changes and felt like sharing again. And the ending…haha..yup, I’m disappointed to, sad for him, but things happen. 😀😀 Thanks dear puzzled girl…🤜🤛🍀🍀

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  4. I have this habit of switching off halfway through a long poem. Loved this…sums up 2020. Disappointing XD Hope he figures it out and finds the perfect girl one day

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  7. Well that was a rolling read! I really enjoyed it and scrolling down line by line, made me feel I was always on a cliff hanger about to resolve itself. I just need a bit of explanation on these two lines:
    “I unsheathe my pistol
    and take the aim to shoot…|
    Did I miss something there? Is that a metaphor using pistols instead of bows and arrows? haha, were you aiming for her heart or…. wow just let me know..Beyond that line, you described all the angst of maybe-maybe not and sad for him it was the latter. Good writing!

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    • Hey Karima…thanks so much for such nice words…and those two lines…well I see where that must’ve been confusing, for pistols are hardly used lovingly. Unsheathing pistol here refers to unsheathing of his confidence, something he had working on, rehearsing, before finally going ahead for the aim, yes her heart. It was a battle of sorts for him, not a normal conversation for he was that smitten by her.
      Your words mean a lot, and let me know if that didn’t come out well (I intended it to keep colloquial, and casual, not too poetic)….I could always make changes…😀😀🙏🍀🍀

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      • Thank you so much for the clarification…Oh, yes of course I get it now..maybe just an expression I am not used to, but please don’t change a thing! Always fun to read you. You are genuinely creative,not a formula writer, and you can take chances and experiment too. He was so smitten; and yes colloquial and casual works for the whole story. I really enjoyed it..You are great with inner thoughts, Sundaram, as well as conversation!

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      • Thanks so much dear Karima….🙏🙏…you’re very kind to me…and yes, an experiment it was… there is a satisfaction in trying different things… I’m sure readers will forgive me if I sometimes go wrong, for that’s the only way to progress, isn’t it?
        You have a great day, my friend. 🤜🤛🌸🌸

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  26. Brilliant writing. I also wanted to write poems, but so far, my attempts produced something that had bare resemblance to a poem. I think I should read more poems, experience life more and keepnon writing about them.
    And your experience in your short stories are amazing.
    Could you recommend some poetry works?
    Keep posting😊

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    • Thanks Nagendra… I am not much of a poet myself… just try my hand at an appealing idea every once in a while…
      Haven’t been able to read much but I’ve been recommended to read Pablo Naruda, and Rumi. Both of them, world class poets. You can try their works. And yes, reading, experiencing and then writing regularly is all it takes to be a better writer… that’s what they all say. You’re on the right track buddy. Wish you the best… :))

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  27. I like the whole idea of writing a poem without it sound like a poem at all!

    O Captain! My Captain…. remember? Walt Whitman?…The man who cared two hoots about iambic meter and the likes that were considered a requirement to call a verse a poem. Your poem is a tip to that great man Sandy. Who gave us a new world of choices to write our emotions the way they flow until sticking by some archaic rules!

    Beautiful work! It isn’t smooth. If you know your music you know what staccato is. This short tale in the format of a poem is just that. A nice sharp staccato!

    Sandyji! Kaafi badal gaye ho! I LIKE!!!

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    • Thanks so much, Lalitha, 🙏🤸🙏
      I’m happy you’re liking this change…😀😀… I am in a mood to experiment… thanks for making me understand my own writings better… you always do that…🙏🤜🤛🌸🌸

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      • Bowled me over with that statement…that I make you understand your own writings better. The first time man from Nairobi said that to me back in 2018, I had no clue it would change my life. Literally. From friends to best friends to meeting the friend of this friend, then love to getting a passport to my first international flight to nothing less but Africa! That statement made me a different person without really realising that it has…

        I’m waiting for a story to unfold with you. WordPress surely has made my life, a 100 times interesting!

        And I have waited long for you to come back to WP. And I’m loving every word you are shooting into this space. Keep surprising me Sandy!

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      • Thanks Lalitha… I’m happy for you girl… May God keep you busy with the one across the Indian Ocean…and you find more meaning and happiness in life…
        I’ll keep scribbling in the meanwhile…and surprising you…🤘🍀🤘

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  28. Such an amazing flow of the poem! Seems to be a real life story! I really love the use of simple words and the smooth flow of the rhyme! It is amazing!

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  29. Wow! It was so amazing. I was completely hooked while reading. Just loved it. Btw, are you going to continue it? Please do…

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    • Thanks Radhika… :)) and about continuing, I thought about it, but it didn’t materialize. May be in future as the inspiration strikes. But thanks so much for saying it. Made my day. Take care. :))

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  30. This really takes skill. You’ve managed to tell a full narrative in a rhyming poem well done 👍
    A good story as well. All taking place in one day. “Wearing a working mask” was my favorite line 😇

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