Ice Block sold here

‘Ice block sold here’
Marks the gate
Red and black with spikes on the fence
Scared men away
Good thing I’m not a man then

‘Ice block sold here’
I saw everyday
As I went into the gate
He wore green bathroom slippers the first day
Green repulsed me but not today

‘Ice block sold here’
We said in unison
Whenever people passed by the gate
We echoed rather than said with our lips
The real words were spoken with our eyes

‘Ice block sold here’
I thought of every night before I slept
Then the words in his eyes played
Good thing we had 700 days to speak
Because on day 701 I left

‘Ice block sold here’
I knocked on the gate even after seven years

Time did not do him well
And for the first time our lips spoke plain words“Two bags please”
“Okay” he replied.

‘Ice block sold here’
The sign was gone by the next day
And heartbreakingly so was he
This time, two gates away
On a dull blue gate

‘Ice block sold here’
For the first time in all those years
I saw those words for what they really were
And I realised that in my house,
We always had light.