Friendship

Chipped nail paints
Reminiscence of the old cheerful strains,
When
She used to rush to the store
To buy the latest colour.
Then applied them with extreme focus
As if a bit outside the nail
Will stain the beauty of that frame.

I used to watch her
With utter concentration
And tried to copy those strokes
But never got perfection.
My nail paints always wandered off
Forming maps and curvy roads
I was never the one who could
Stop, wait and traced lines just on boards

I used to read the boards
And dreamt of flying abroad
With clean nails to be tousled in dirt and chores
She, instead of listening to my stores,
Used to indulge herself in household chores.
Cooking gave her kick just like maps gave me
Singing while cleaning were her synonym
To my reading about different countries.

We were same yet miles apart,
Her toes glinted with latest coat of gloss
And mine were with broken nails
While I tried to tie some sailing knots.
Both passionate about different story
Thriving to attain personal glory.

All these years, we kept in touch
We don't used to do long talks
But both knew who was playing which part.
When I was witnessing snowfall in Alaska,
She was enjoying pakodes in India,
When I was staring at Northern lights,
She was boarding Paris' flight,
When I was renting a Cadillac,
She was grooming her self grown lilacs.

Apart yet connected, we spent our lives happy and contented.
Now that we have met, with wrinkled skins and stiffening joints,
I peeked a look on her nails and the fingers that were crooked,
She noticed my gaze, and pointed at those chipped nailpaints,
And said," Don't worry, I have just bought the latest shade."
And that moment I knew, some things never change!

- Raj Nandani
.
Napowrimo 2020
Poem 21