"Dilli is barren without you, Ammi
She calls out for you from her tallest minarets
hoping her echoes will reach you
and you will once again take a stroll on her banks,
as you trace your fingers down her spine
She barely speaks under the heavy blanket of stars,
seldom murmuring about grief cracking her mosques.
She lamented in January, Ammi
Her wails finding home
in the frozen fingertips of her inhabitants,
waiting for the day warmth would once again
fill the spaces between her bones -
waiting for the day you would once again return
and her mumbles don't fall upon deaf ears.
Dilli doesn't understand, Ammi
Why you slowly fell out of love with her
and slipped out of her skin like you discard a sweater
Why you wrung her inside out without even saying goodbye
and left her lonesome and forever solitary
She doesn't breathe anymore, Ammi
Just like you"
My breath fogs the glass
as I turn up the volume
of my Spotify playlist
The girl beside me looks at me
with eyes full of unshed tears
and ends her voicemail
with trembling fingers.
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