Solemn, silent, standing, smiling
Deep thoughts hiding behind deep eyes
Watching her from afar, taking guard
admiring, the Gatekeeper
She takes her stance every morning
Smiling at every passer-by, taking their
names
Perhaps she realizes not that she
makes hundreds of beginnings with a smile
everyday
I look upon her from a distance
so engrossed in her work is she
But my gaze brings her attention to me
and happily then she smiles and waves at me
Perhaps she has found a friend in me,
perhaps it’s not me but her smile she’s
being honest with
perhaps she is just doing her job
hiding joys and sorrows and love and pain
behind a façade
But the heart cares little for such depths
right now
The heart desires just to stare at her Graceless being
A twitch of her hand when she settles her
hair
A look at my eyes when she tries to find
respite
Now I know better to fall for a smile,
And I’ve been a fool and I’ve been blind
I have not fallen for the damsel in front
of my eyes
I only wish to sit across her and want her
to pour her heat out
I wish to know what she knows and feel what
she feels
I wish to know her life story and how she
became what she is
I wish to know the secret behind her stance
and smile
I wish to hold her hand and dance through
the night
Crowds pass by her every day
Some she remembers, some remember her
but like all citizens of the modern
connected world
I wonder does she feel alone in some way
Does she go back home, thankfully away from
the crowd
And sit in silence away from the noise
Or does another kind of loneliness engulf
her,
one you realize only when you spend time
too much in a crowd
I don’t know, I only saw a girl and admired
a smile
And perhaps wish to see that smile again,
and again, and again, and more, and more
Sharing the deep thoughts behind deep eyes
Coming close, for her to shed her guard
the secrets of the Gatekeeper
Vishal Gupta
3 November 2016
