Slip Of Tongue

I was extremely careful

I met her accidentally

(Apparently)

Otherwise why else would I be there

At that exact time

That exact moment

That exact corner

I greeted her so casually

As if we meet every day

Pretending I was in a hurry

I paid attention to what she said

But not too much that she would know

I looked at her in a distracted way

Showing my discomfort with the place

We were standing at

I pointed to the road I was heading towards

Knowing she was headed that side too

We started walking together side by side

Our footsteps matching

Like the steps of two ballroom dancers

While she referred to the lovely weather

I made a careless reference to darkening clouds

She said Coffee

I said Tea

She spoke about Ghalib

I admired Mir

She quoted Pablo

I recited Rumi

When she deliberated on Marx

I defended Hegel

Everything was going fine

Nothing I did or said

Could have revealed anything

Except when she asked me

While taking another sip of her coffee

“Didn’t you say you were in hurry?”

I said…

I said nothing.