The Last Summer

I have seen kisses dry
embraces shrivel
and the warmth of touches
turn into scalding frictions
of unfathomed rancour

silhouetted against the sky
I have felt our bodies char
in the sweltering surly nights
insentient of the placid moon
when the tirades of reviling odium
took over us like a febrile illness
and our words blistered malice

we lived with rumpled desires
and crumpled hopes
our wrinkled leathery faces
narrated impassive stories
of a vapid arid romance
and cracked eyes revealed
traces of shattered dreams
as we saw our love fade
from pink to blanched pale
in the ruthless spell of summer
that we last spent together.

~ Chhaya