He waits

Power of anticipation

He waits

Coughing old man,

Waits patiently,

This side of the

Marital/martial bed

---As wide as the Australian continent---

Mid-night hour,

The way

A young bride waits,

Half-asleep,

Half-awake,

In the 3-room condominium

For her

Man to return

From a swanky

 MNC office in

Congested

Gurgaon,

Bangalore,

Or,

Mumbai;

Or,

A sick patient,

Her dour doctor,

First thing,

In an

Overcrowded Delhi

Municipal hospital,

On a bitter

January-morning!