in case you don’t hear from me
or see my stories and I leave your
calls unanswered and messages unread
or my phone’s battery is zero
remember I’ll be around,
gently seeping in the sand-o-soil,
carving my niche in the earth’s furrow

if you happen to be among the first few
to know about my sudden sundown

to my friends and family
and muses and ex-lovers –
tell them, no, just hug them tight
crushing their skin and bones,
and say “she tried to make it count”

then as next steps,
remember I have donated some organs
and I hope they reach the ones in need
and add sparkle to some lives

then, auction my artwork for the greater good
but keep the brick guitar one for my homeroom

carry all the books back just to
build a book tree every xmas
and keep it for a month straight
decorate with bells and hope and
leave the top star space for myself

giveaway all the fancy fabrics
but keep the sarees for my mother and
the flamingo blazer I wore for my TEDx show

then, all the accessories,
gift them to my best friends instead
yes, I have a lot of them
accessories and best friends
and quality envelopes to ship them

if possible, craft a tiara or a wreath
with all the cute stationery and
leaves and flowers of my houseplants
dry or fresh – both; and adorn it on my grave

if you have pictures of me, or with me,
print them if you can and
use them as a bookmark, across genres –
as I would love to be in the company of
exclamations and punctuations
your life and your thoughts

and now, what will you do with all my words?

well, remember my name by them

you feel them over and over,
the stories, musings and poems –
to gather nothing but warmth and strength

and most importantly, you go read our
last conversation no matter what
it is – memes, gifs, news links,
food or beach pictures, work documents
gossip, arguments, slangs, songs,
addresses, job details, or just emojis

we never know
these could be our unknown goodbyes
and this stitched piece could turn out
to be the endured to mark my literary demise
and hence, hence –
I genuinely hope that my words,
they, no matter what – build an empire
of the warmest of smiles in your eyes