Poetry

A PRAYER
Two in a family, he was one.
It was a perfect life
It was a life filled with happiness and joy,
For the mother and her little boy.

Then came the scary dark night.
It was a night when the lady had to fight.
A fight it was, a battle for her own breath.
If she lost, she had to face death.

She called out for help.
That pain was making her unconscious.
During those moments too, she prayed for her son.
For she knew her time was on a run.

Her son was nervous and helpless,
He could not imagine losing his mother, his goddess.
He fought, struggled and cried for her.
He cried out and shouted,’ Please sir!’

The doctors were insensitive to his call
And when they told him she was dead,
He looked at her.
Like an angel she was,
Lying on the bed.

He fell on his knees, cried and hoped that it was a bad dream.
The moment seemed to stay on forever.
When the phone started ringing, I picked up the phone.
I heard him sob.
Like that old man, Bob.
Now I sit here watching him cry.
Don’t know what to tell him, can’t even try.

He loves and adores his mother.
He questions God, ‘Is this how you exercise your power?’
I feel like it s killing all of us inside.
And he’s the one going through all this.
He sits and recalls the good times,
While an uncle consoles him and listens to his words.
I pray to all the mighty Gods,
To comfort and console his pained chords.

HOPE

She sits by the window and watches the rain,
Closes her eyes to let go some off her pain.
She wants her life to be that dream again
But her old friend is lost, lost to life’s game.
She wishes she could speak to her soul,
But her friend has taken it away.

She switches on the radio and makes some tea.
Listens to the song, and remembers times when she was free.
She looks at the mirror and she sees a stranger.
The stranger looks lost in a moment lost forever.
And suddenly she realizes it was a moment that has been lasting forever.

She walks to the window again and it is still raining.
Now she closes her eyes and listens to the rain drops falling.
She smells the rain and feels the rain drops on her fingers.
She realizes she has little time and all she needs now for her is hope.
Just like those days when she was younger and always had a smile on her face.
Now she goes to the radio and switches it on again.
Dances to her favorites and smiles at herself in front of the mirror.
She makes some tea, calls some friends.
And before she knows, the day had come to an end.
Before she went to bed, she looked at herself in the mirror.
She saw herself smiling, and she knew this smile was meant to last forever.

DILEMMA

Dressed in a T shirt that was lemon yellow,
She sat talking to a good old fellow.
It was a day in March.
And they sat under a shady branch.

Remembering the good old days,
When they fought to make their ways,
They laughed till their stomachs ached,
Dint stop for those strange looks’ sake!

As they giggled, he told her about his new love.
While from the branch kept falling flowers that were colored in mauve.
She listened keenly because she had never seen him so serious.
Also to know the girl’s name, she was curious.

He told her she s been on his mind since a year.
But if he told her, he would lose her was his fear.
He even spoke about ‘her’ to his sister.
And she would say, “Go tell her mister!”

Now when he told all this to his friend,
He could not look into her eyes even for a second.
While she was saying, “Tell me her name!”
He kept smiling like he had won some game.
The girl kept wondering what s new with her best pal,
‘Oh Boy!’ He was indeed in love with this ‘her’ gal
While she wondered about his secret,
He had said, “That girl is you “with no regret.

She jumped a little, was quiet for a minute,
Then the words she said was, “Bad prank, fanatic”
Then he told her why he loved her
He even quoted a line or two from Shakespeare.

Friends they would stay, no matter what she would say.
But for his heart break, he would have to pay.
Told her she could take her time,
Pushed off for a fresh soda lime.

Weeks passed by, friends they did remain,
But sometimes he said, “Love has made me insane!”
Played songs for her on the radio,
Sometimes sang songs of goodbye.

When she met him to make sure,
That their friendship was still strong and pure,
He would say, “This pain of love will always endure”
For her it was not easy, for she had two battles.
One within herself and one to keep the friendship alive
But it seemed like on both she could not rely.
Now are the days when they say a lot without having conversations
They are on a level of mixed emotions.
Friends they are, they are also more.
Love and friendship, both she has or both she has lost!
It was indeed a dilemma of love and friendship.

CRUEL and KIND
On a trip to rejuvenate my soul, I visited a green farm
As I walked by, I admired nature’s beauty and charms,
I saw a warm nest,
In it, I saw love evolved to its best.
In the nest was a bird, feeding the young ones.
Also, I saw two small ones that were not from the family.
The mother bird was so generous and kind.
That I thought was the beauty of love and sharing.

I walked further, I saw a little lad.
A lad of seven with a look of an angel
In his eyes I saw innocence and so much pain.
That I was not sure which one I saw more.
He was beaten up by his mother with a cane.
He had refused to beg at a traffic signal carrying his baby sister.

I close my eyes. It seems like I am here now and my soul has tripped over somewhere else.
There is a dream of that mother bird doing her best to her little ones.
And then the nightmare of that mother beating up her own little lad.
And I begin to wonder why men can’t be kinder and why animals are so humane?
Why are the cruelest often the most powerful.
Why hunger can’t die down? Is it because some are being fed by greed?
And over and over again, I ask ‘Should our kinds be so cruel’?