Not You But Someone Else

Mera kaatil mera masiha, ab bhi mujhe pe marta hai…
— ‘Laila Majnu’ soundtrack

It was a bad math after all, you
Dead and I mourning you
You were the killer and I was your target
You were the hunter and I the hunt

Now, I carry your invisible existence around
Me, like that poor Mariner’s albatross, like
Priests with their crosses, like politicians with
Their speech, an empty burden

You rescued me and you died
Your hunt was done and you became the
Prize, which I now carry, an invisible
Burden, a very bad math