gathering stories

Like squirrels gathering nuts
like poor women of the village
gathering cattle fodder , firewood;
like a billionaire amassing wealth
like a miser hoarding his
coins
like a child collecting butterfly
wings
I gathered stories
at the knee of my
grandparents / parents
uncles/aunts
under a starlit sky
in crowded bazaars
in faces wrinkled in time
in crinkled food wrappers
in magazine pages smudged
with grease
in trains
while travelling
in shops while buying
and at home when I ask
the maid
how are you ?