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MARGARET's HOPE Somewhere
between the heaven and earth Two
kilometers from the level of sea A
massive boulder stood of weather-beaten rock Hanging
precariously over the precipice A
red mud path with pebbles wound snake-like Twisting
dizzyingly along cliff-edges jagged It
sloped ever so gently on the leeward side Haphazardly
joining rocky edifice and hill road Trudging
skeptically along on rubber-soled shoes Grasping
the wild bottle-green ferns lest I fall Walking
cautiously all the quiet while Did
I painstakingly reach the boulder wide Its
windward side was chipped in As
if a sloping stairway deftly carved It
did lead grudgingly all the way to the top An
obstructed fall of feet all six thousand The
clouds sailed by like disciplined traffic A
rock-coloured bird soared on majestic-like And
the horizon yawned so peacefully wide Stretching
into the depths of the curving earth Far
below brown waters swirled with vengeance A
confluence of two egoistical rivers Their
battling waves a loud crescendo Shattering
the pale peace of the heavens And
it was here where Margaret sat two score years ago Watching
the blue Achilles raft cutting the waters so It
sped onto the churning waves outracing the current Then
dashing against a rocky wall quickly down it went It
took with it the man she had loved and married It
took with it her youth and left her unspent And
what it did leave was an empty tomb Not
to mention too the foetus in her womb The
child was born and life went on From
diapers to roller skate and car Grandchildren
came on Christmas Yet
the raft was never far I
stand up now on the rock’s edge Frail
legs no longer weak Though
this be the longest journey I take No
helping hand do I now seek Forty
years ago I watched you battle the waves Forty
years I spent without cursing my fate I
did not grudge life then neither do I grudge it now All
I wish was that you had taken me with you somehow All
those empty years I placed Flowers
at your empty grave And
now I shall lie beside you Let
the river-bed too be my grave ~Vikram C~ |
