After I Go

After I go
Will the memory linger?
My heart beat for you?
Phone calls exactly quarter past seven?
Tiny fingers feeling my beard?
After I go
There will be Thursday and late night,
terminals all crowded, people breathless restless
Busy town slowly crouching to slumber.
Home at last!
Will the knock at the door be greeted by a melting smile?
Will the house wake up?
Will mother's face suddenly come alive,
a secret bliss like beads of pearls 
stringing our hearts together, a solidarity felt deep at bones?
After I go,
After afternoon and sunset and quiet night,
My children will go trembling
Into the world outside,
Sands on earth will shift 
Sands on earth will shape 
new marks 
And the old ones will be erased like
They existed never before. 

Yasif Ahmad Faysal teaches English at the University of Barishal.