Radha's Krishna

72. ||DUTIES||

Come, beloved.
Let's talk.

Tonight my heart is going places
My body sits here, on the bed of ketaki flowers
Yet my soul traverses lands and oceans known and unknown
Near and far.

Sit, Krishna.
Let's talk.

It's one of those nights
Not idealistic, like the ones described in the lyrical Gita Govinda
But realistic, you know?
There's no full moon
Crickets don't chirp
And the city chokes our throats.
Yet
It's a night.
Our night.

I'm weeping
I'm reeling
Oh, the things I feel
Haunting me in the secret chambers of my body
Is love unexpressed
Suppressed by the mortal duties
I bear on my tender frame.

I'll tell you about my travels tonight.
How each night
Each sleep
Takes me to unknown lands
I see creatures that I've read in books alone
And sit amongst flowers that only the Lord's heaven can enshrine
I never feel like waking up
But like I said
Mortal duties
On my tender frame.

Tell me about your travels, Krishna.
Yes, I've heard them
So many times
That I can recite them
Like hymns engraved on stone slabs
But I'd hear you still
Your valour, unparalled when you took the evil Kansa down
And how you earned the name of beloved Ranchhod-Rai
How you constructed your prized Dwaraka
And don't even get me started on your weddings.
You've always loved
An element of drama.

I often need to vent
Too much happiness
Or too much gloom
Gets overwhelming
You listen, with that everlasting,
Mystic smile.

Nobody asks you if you're okay, Krishna
Which is why
I'm here
And so are my arms
And ears.
I will listen
To what you cherish
And what you regret
For societal expectations from a man are high
From a woman as me, higher
But the same from a God are highest.

The dawn is cracking
I see the sun god on his chariot
Evilly grinning at me
We talked a lot today, Krishna
Visit me again tomorrow?
It's time for me
To get up.
Like I said

Mortal duties...
On my tender frame...