Pauper’s Plight -Atul Singh


“Sweetest words are those, that connect two people” 

Atul


It’s the prettiest poem of all

yet who can ever write

words are just not good enough 

to have it come out right


It’s about love and hurt and flowers 

and thorns that make up life

yet when I try to write it

I meet the pauper’s plight


I can feel them, hear them, see them

trickling brooks and chirping birds

mountains, trees and heavens

and stars lighting up the night


I can hear the baby’s laughter

and heart wrenching mourner’s wail

I have felt fresh morning dew

and I have faced the fiercest gale


I have lost and found myself some

and sometimes I have cried

yet when I try to write it

words don’t come out right


Oh! I wish upon you lots of pleasure

and maybe a little pain

friend and family’s richness 

and also lonesome days


Wish that you experience nature’s bounty

and all it’s magnificent delights

and sometimes I hope you get lost too

in the dark and desolate night


I seek badly to know you

but just as much to be known

if you haven’t experienced what I did

my words cannot tell it to you right


when both have seen life from the mountain

and also from deep dark well

when both have experienced love and loss

some pleasure and some pain


then I can read you my poem

and you will feel it outright

my words won’t fail me then

and you will know my mind


But alas your life is different

so different it is from mine

the prettiest poem to ever be written

won’t get written yet awhile

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Girl, The City and The Marathon - By Nayana Gadkari

Image
                                                             “Nayana, I see an airplane flying really low, it is coming close to the towers, where are you? This doesn’t look normal!” My husband, screaming in utter disbelief, was on the phone with me from across the river in Jersey City; I had just stepped off the train at the World Trade Center. Two years before that terrible day, I had flown into New York City from Mumbai, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, a blushing new bride. The first thing I saw as our airplane gradually descended to what was to be my new home were those gleaming towers. I remember staring at them in wide-eyed wonder, at their sheer size, at the vertical space they occupied as they rose majestically into the New York skyline on a beautiful, brilliant blue August afternoon! As luck would have it, my first job in my adoptive country was a few blocks from the Twin Towers. I was twenty-five years old, living my best life in New York. The best part of each day was when the tr
Read more

Lioness - By Nayana Gadkari

Image
The trill of the phone broke her reverie as she mindlessly prepared for the day ahead. She would later think that some days begin with no indication of how they end. Her mother was in the hospital, they told her. They are running tests now, they said. They would try to get her mother to talk to her soon. Endless hours passed as she waited. The all too familiar guilt of being 7000 miles away was burning a mom-sized hole in her heart and threatening to get bigger. After what seemed like an eternity, they called her back. The thought of her mother in the hospital many oceans away was twisting like a dagger in her heart. She needed to go. Mind-numbed, she started packing for the journey back home. Only this time, she did not grab the most enormous bags to engorge with gifts lovingly picked and carefully wrapped. Instead, she chose a modest bag. She wasn't packing for a celebration now, was she? She wondered what does one pack to be a caregiver instead of the one doted upon? As the
Read more

Amma and I: A tale of family traditions

Image
 We were a small family: Amma, Appa and I. However, we were surrounded by uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents within fifteen minutes of us. My parents weren’t religious folks but we still celebrated all the festivals with zeal, every year. Some were celebrated in an elaborate way and others in an intimate setting. Amma was always the driver of all things related to the celebrations and Appa was mostly interested in those mouth-watering dishes that accompanied the festivities.   Out of all those myriad Hindu festivals, the one that stands out in my mind is Gowri and Ganesha festival. Particularly Gowri festival which we refer to as Gowri Habba in Kannada. As I would learn later, this is celebrated by mostly people from Karnataka and is not as well known as its accompanying festival, Ganapathi Habba. On a typical day of the festival, Amma and I woke up early in the morning and got dressed in bright-colored Indian clothes. While I reluctantly woke up at the crack of dawn, Amma wo
Read more