By: Debleena Majumdar  

If you took a page
From my travel diary,
Would it dance nimbly
Around the water’s edge
On the beaches of Sri Lanka?
Fly over the towers of New York?
Float over the canals of Venice,
Peep from a 400 year old ledge?
Or would it stop, alone
On that cobbled street,
Devoid of landmarks famous,
Lost in the shadows of time?
Its paper wings stretched in
Solitary flight. An old folk song
Beating its familiar tune to a
Wooden wind chime?
If you read a page from my diary,
See my pictures and my notes,
Of the majestic fort in Jodhpur,
The colourful markets of Turkey,
The street food at Florence,
The forgotten cafe in Malyasia,
You would find it all,
Rich slices of world history.
Or would you stop for a moment?
Walk with me on my real journey,
Where the familiar hesitated,
Losing itself in that mist of rain,
Of the unfamiliar and the unknown?
Would you wait as I found my way
Living, learning, giving, needing
Another moment alone with my pain?