someone comes up to me
and says something nice
all I can think about, is wanting to flee
for how could someone say such vice

my body reflexes on the compliment and immediately reacts with “what the hell man, now why did you say that for?”
my hand, meanwhile, reaches for my wooden bedside table and I mutter the words “touch – wood” and at the same time, stare at the person in disbelief, with a glare

now what does that term even mean
it’s a rhetorical question, so leave it clean
I don’t know how I even started using that term
maybe I picked it off from my mother
who ardently believes that this would ward off evil intentions that people sometimes tend to cover

I use this term a lot
and whenever I do so, I tend to always get caught
whenever a compliment comes my way
I tend to make a face and try to get away, to my wooden bedside table to say those golden words and save my day

why did I only mention, my wooden bedside table
well, I’m always in bed, that’s why I said
so you don’t end up feeling, like you’ve been misled

© Lishaka Gulati