The Sun and Moon of Awadh

 Darkness crackled on the electric the night,

 between the last day of the month of Ramadan and the first day of Shawwal,

Under the new moon and fiery stars, 

I wore a kurti with tiny mirrors sewn into it, 

my arm covered by silver bangles,

I heard people filling the streets with a tapestry of voices,

There’s something ancient about our friendship,

You were there because you always were,

Our grandfathers were friends too,

In your father’s house,

Idols of various gods were found,

But that won’t stop me from,

Flying kites along the bank of the Gomti with you,

Is there anything more powerful in the whole universe than,

The force of a glorious, sibling-like bond? 

In your calendar, on the last day of Shraavana,

You beamed and your heart was warm as the sun,

And the rakhi I tied on your wrist was threaded with gold