Poem by RANJIT SINHA ROY, from: HYDERABAD, INDIA

I wake up in silent night
dark around and all asleep.
A dog barking in the lane
know not why,
may be a lone man returning home late
or a beggar curled up on pavement
or a cat on the wall
or a ghost in the dark.
It barks and barks and I listen lying sleepless.
Far away a train speeds through the dark night
wheels rumbling and faint whistle floats through the dark
it goes far and far to a distant land
then it is silent again.
I see the rectangle of a starlit sky through the window
Branches gently waving in the breeze
And then I see you there
your serene oval face and rosy cheeks framed in the window
smiling soft pink moist lips
silently you watch me in the dark night till I go to sleep again.