Number 106 - Imtiaz Dharker

We are waving to you from up here,

from the fourth floor to say

don’t worry about us, we are fine.

We may be strung out, trousers vest blouse

sari skirt on this washing line

but the sun is being kind to us.

Better here than down there

where you are passing

on the Number 106, crammed

into a hot window frame

with your loud loneliness.

We are floating here,

our hearts filled with soft evening air

and the sound of conversations

in the rooms behind us,

in love with the shape

of each other and the dance

we make together,

waving to you, sending a sign

that you would see if

you were looking but

you are not.

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Imtiaz Dharker (born 1954) Pakistan (moved to England as a child)

Source: Imtiaz Dharker's website