Literary Yard

Search for meaning

By: Riddhi Bhattacharya

A sunshine poured in and dust crawls around,
My frail ears pick up the bark of a distant hound,
One by one the casements catch,
The suns beams beneath the golden thatch.

From there cosy abodes the sparkly eyes peep,
Some like doves stirred awoken from a silver-feathered sleep,
As the breeze caresses swollen cheeks,
The edge of my bed breaks away to sudden creaks.

Petunias boom and cherish the company,
As families gleefully assemble in the balcony,
As the strings are plucked in artful harmony,
Everybody swayed in enthralling epiphany.

Familiar tones of an old and rusty guitar,
As I remembered my times under the shade of mighty cedars,
Or standing with my little boy and his girl in the quest for a shooting star,
The orchestra led by people on my street seemed so close yet so far.

Young faces lit with smiles, and not a doleful frown,
As they laughed heartily at the man in his balcony dressed as a clown,
Peering from the windows were next doors Bernadette and Bartholome,
As music and laughter suddenly filled the empty streets of Rome.

As the world around me rejoiced and sang,
I lied down with every inch of me aching since I returned from Pyongyang,
I imagined my granddaughter, daughter-in-law and son,
Singing in our balcony while I bathe in crimson.

Needles jabbed in my veins, pipes running down my nose,
Yet all I wanted to do was water my plants with the dirty hose,
Swords and nails hammered into my throat,
I think of the uncertainty my family faces as they isolate in a house so remote.

A handshake, a hug, a cough, a sneeze, a fever,
All that allows me now, is to be a silent observer,
As I sit solemnly in silence, I question who all I have infected,
Or simply analysing how by staying at home, all this could have been prevented.

Now, as I probably take steps towards God’s holy abode,
I pray for my family to not walk on the same road.

To my grand-daughter of four, cover your mouth, cover your nose,
Forever may you dance away to “Swan Lake” on your town little toes,
To my son and daughter-in-law, love each other endlessly,
And don’t forget to carry forward our family legacy!

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