COCK-TAIL PARTY

Curse of loneliness
bored him to death.
He wanted company,
He wanted friends,
He wanted them,
He liked their presence,
'Come to me' - he shouted
through the mobile.
'Come to me bastards' - he
shouted at them.
The curse of loneliness
bored him to death.
Whenever alone
he went restless
he cigaretted and cigaretted
to the last puff
stuffed the ashtray with
cigarette butts.
He wanted company,
He wanted friends,
He loved them,
He liked them
whenever with them
he rejoiced.
He played cards with them
he chatted with them
cracked wits with them
He needed them
he hosted them
he hosted cock-tail parties
cock-tail parties daily.
His bank balance diminished
day by day.
He didn't care
he didn't have second thoughts
he didn't introspect
he lived in present
he never thought about
tomorrow.
Number of cock-tail parties grew,
Number of friends too.
He never told them about his
diminishing bank balance.
He kept the secret to himself
when the balance reached
zero level
its bottomline
he started borrowing
lenders aplenty in the begininning
but with the repayment not
forthcoming in time
lenders smelt a rat.
They turned colours
they displayed true
colours.
Friends started deserting him
one by one
his calls
went unanswered.
They hid from his
reach, they evaded him.
With the rent coming
to a stop
landlord's respect vanished
and he showed him the door.
Nobody to extend a helping
hand
left in the lurch
he wept and wept
and started begging.
Now he is not alone
always among the crowds
in the streets
but now he craves for loneliness
craves for an escape
from the madding crowd
far from the madding
crowd.