Shadows

(This is the same poem as the one in Hindi below.)

Neither I said a word,
Nor she.
She came,
Removed the ring
And kept it on the table.
Those ear-rings
Which I had given
Last Diwali,
Those too.
Neither I said a word,
Nor she.
I ordered
Two cups of tea,
Mine plain,
Hers as usual -
Without sugar,
Without milk.
All the letters
That I had written,
Tied with a
Frail string.
That mobile phone -
cadeau d'amour -
With its box.
Neither I said a word,
Nor she.
The tea came
We drank
I paid the bill.
She opened her handbag
Kept twenty-two rupees
Of her share
And left.
Neither I said a word,
Nor she.