The season's last mango

A long time ago -- Sometimes it seems like another life time --

When I was a little girl -- Ah, those carefree days of childhood

When the summer season arrived, I gorged on juicy mangoes

Ripe and sweet and as carefree as a laughing child

That juicy laughter of tangy sweetness with each mango bite

Has stayed on my tongue, dripping of the blazing Sun

And humid hot summer breezes, until today.

I wonder now, where were you then?

Were you also tasting mango bites on summer days?

Many years have gone by since; a life time has slipped by.

A blur of seasons of mango bites; seasons in which

Unbeknownst to me, perhaps, I sought you in the summer breeze.

Perhaps it is to share our mango bites - create new memories -

That you came into my life, stealthily, unbeknownst to me.

And yet, here is another mango season, slipping by,

And I'm unable to give you a slice of the mango

I bought just for you - the juiciest best of the season.

The season's last mango

Its soft sunrise tinted flesh bursting with

The nectar of the flower that gave it birth.

I wonder where you are now;

Are you also tasting mango bites in this fading season?

Does your mango taste like mine; of sun soaked earth and cloudless skies?

Does it taste of the koel's longing in its song?

Does it ever taste of the darkness of foreboding, disquiet,

The taste of a sense of loss?

The loss of carefree childhood; the loss of love that has not been.

Mould and trapped moonlight and bruised flower petals

Linger on my tongue like a misty wraith

Which explodes every once in a while

Like some premonition in my throbbing mouth.

Is that the taste of dying love? Would I, could I endure that?

Can I find strength within me to hang tough

About you forgetting me; About us never being - together -

Tasting the earthy fragrance of love's enfolding mango bites?

Of course, of course.. Time heals all, they say..

I take another bite of the season's last mango

While I keep watching, waiting, hoping.

And wondering, again and again, where are you now?

Are you also biting into the season's last mango?