The Painting

Beaming down like a meteorite in the night sky,
He spotted her from the twenty first floor–
Trying to count stars from the French window pane,
which overlooked the arcade where he dreamt about
dancing with her in the rain —
The comet which was never seen in the past seventy five
makes him think about her, everytime a star fell from the sky.

The gladiator who gave his life in the Colosseum,
never failed till the day his village was annexed.
Her lustrous eyes, and her gorgeous smile was illustrated on paper,
just because, he wanted to have a picture of her in the tunnel with him–
so that he could have a glimpse of her in black and white before he went to the pit,
hoping that she will wait for his return, in a white saree instead of a gown –
A story that he heard from the French soldiers, who knew about a country of diverse culture–
With a dot on her forehead, he dreamt of colouring her cheeks with vermillion;
Drenched hair untied, staring at him, waiting for him to come back home.

The painting which was sold off in an auction centuries later,
was purchased by a man who saw a familiar face, in the painting sketched a long time back.
The owner of ‘Maison Irrésistible’, who lived in his private suite on the twenty first floor ,
two blocks away from the Colosseum, never met the lady in person he fell for decades ago.

Gazing at a falling star, he poured a drink for himself,
walked up to the Painting hung above the fireplace bought a few months ago,
and found a footnote on the right hand bottom
corner.
The sketch as described by the gladiator said, ‘In a Discoloured Spring.’

Seven decades since that date, his grandson met a similar lady in an era of digital transactions. A new text document, was solely created to narrate an experience –
‘An acquaintance that he yearn to undilute with her’.

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