He did not utter a word,

He just stood before me

Peering at me,

Trying to place me.

It seemed,

I was a stranger to him,

My brother, who has been with me,

Ever since we were born sometime

After midnight on a Tuesday

Almost eight decades ago.

He is that I outside me

Calm and undisturbed;

I should ask him why

He does not remember me.

He said –

‘Of course, I remember you,

I stood wondering how far

You had advanced in life,

For me to rejoice.’

Hearing this

My inner I did not utter a word.

The void between us

Exists even now.