That reference may not strike anyone
while reading the first chapter
like a thorn’s prick in a hurried walk
or a mole on one’s private parts.

Later it may recur in each chapter; but still,
that too would be felt  like some black marks
that appear and disappear
on the back armpit and below the breasts.

Meanwhile, we’ll turn off into sub-stories
and walk alone. We’ll see the seas creep in
between the fingers, clouds floating through
the hair and rivers converging into the navel.

And hear the steps descending
through the ears into the netherworld.
We’ll forget each other. Then we’ll return and
meet again on the main path of the story.

We’ll continue to visit the temple
put the son in a school, see a film
a month. Many a star will rise and fall,
the daughter will be married off.

The loans on TV fridge house and car
will be paid off, and the transacted words
alone will remain unpaid debts. Meanwhile
again, after having completed, suspended

or bored of reading, we will toss the book
to the attic. At last, one day we will take it out,
dust it and open it once again; then, a star and
a night would be spreading pricking and

festering from the very first letter itself.