A Thin, Bright Line

Last night you came

In my dreams.

You were sitting on a chair

And glanced sideways

At me, standing.

You looked young and slightly plumb.

You never were plumb, I thought in my dream,

Amused.

You talked to me; kind words -

And smiled gently, with warmth.

Listening, I wondered happily

How you had changed.

In my dream, I remember

I wished, wistfully

At the images beginning to fade

That it wasn't a dream.

But then -

As it narrowed to a thin bright line

And then to a receding dot

In a pitch black screen -

A dove sitting on the window sill

Rose, in a flurry of wings.

**************** Balachandran V, Trivandrum 22.09.2009