Vidya Shankar

Keepsake Memory

 
On the other side of old, forgotten memories
A car drive with friends, through busy, city streets —
The busyness, a blur
In the darkness within, the music from the stereo 
Wafted from him to me, me to him
Kissing us ever so gently
Upon our lips as we synched them with the lyrics —
Because we couldn’t
 
On the other side of old, forgotten memories
Moonlight, tangible
Bathing us in streams of pearly light 
Spotlight in a divine drama
We clicked pictures of each other
Blurred in the blackness of night
The fun was vivid, the laughter real
Framing a part of us to the moment
 
On the other side of old, forgotten memories
Alone in a well-lit room
We looked deep into each other’s eyes
Our hands itching to hold, to embrace
Beyond the pain that had squeezed in between us
The whirring fan tried desperately 
To cool our emotions
But the heaviness, asphyxiating
The barrier, too high to cross over
To the other side
 
Time-lapse 
Memories linger 
Untouched 

Vidya Shankar finds meaning to life through yoga and meditative mandalas which invigorate her to write poetry. Her work features in the ‘Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English, 2020-2021’. Be it stories, articles, blogging, editing, her work is suffused with passion. Featured in a unique coffee table book, ‘50 Inspiring Women boys and girls should read about, Chennai Edition’, Vidya Shankar,is a motivational speaker and a “book” in the Human Library. She is the author of The Flautist of Brindaranyam (in collaboration with her photographer husband, Shankar Ramakrishnan), and The Rise of Yogamaya (an effort to sensitize her readers about mental health and the need to break free from an outdated society).