Uninvited guest

Update:

Edwin Alvarez was the kid I wrote about in my poem below today.  Please read the request below from his friends trying to arrange for his funeral.

“Hey guys. I believe everyone is aware already that on Friday night there was a boating accident after which our friend Edwin unfortunately passed away. I don’t know however, if everyone is aware that he comes from a very humble family and I don’t know up to what point they relied on Edwin’s income. As far as I know, he was paying for his brother’s education, bootstrapping a business with his dad who works in construction and looking for ways to also help his mother, who is a maid, to find an alternate source of income.
Needless to say this is a life-altering situation that is going to be incredibly difficult for his family to overcome. Eduardo (one of Edwin’s friends who helped us contact his family), started a GoFundMe to help them out with the funeral expenses. Any help will surely be greatly appreciated. Here’s the link https://gf.me/u/ykvm62 . He also mentioned that Oscar (Edwin’s brother) is already aware of this effort.”

I write about current events, my poems are fiction, penned during my flights of imagination. The poem below is based on a tragedy that happened two nights ago.  A young soul was called back too soon by the Lord.  He was my son’s friend.  I never met him but heard about him from my son. A hard working, honest, fun loving friendly guy.  These are the times one questions, why? Why?  I guess there is no answer.

a day in a life of hope

started with fun and frolic,

a boat ride down the river,

azure summer sky pierced

with laughter and singing.

sun moved slowly

to the western sky,

Time Not A Healer: A set of Haiku

Gently flows the creek

Time flies like arrow forward

Lonely lover waits

*****

Meandering trail

Rushing creek sings lullabies

Jilted lover cried

******

Summer heat rises

Languorous mid-day slumbers

Wounded heart drips slow

******

Creek just a trickle

Time marches on relentless

Bleeding heart searches

******

Dry creek lost it’s way

Cruel time not a healer

Lover’s broken heart

Impatient

they say

time and tide

waits for none.

why so impatient?

I have on my hand

all the time in the world,

to wait,

for that beautiful,

fascinating and enchanted

sunrise.

and sunset?

it can wait its time.

I am not

Impatient.

Silence Spoke

we traveled miles

hand in hand

so much to say

before long

it was

time to part

nothing was said

silence spoke

what we wanted

to say

 

Busy

I keep myself busy

To find answer to the puzzle

Why do we need to

Keep ourselves busy.

And for that matter

People call me lazy,

Their logic, I found very fuzzy.

Or they must have a life very easy.

While they sweat running in circles,

And jump into their cars

To sit in traffic that’s quite busy,

I scratch my head to think

Why solving pollution is not easy.

I call my friend to discuss the issue,

But the line is always busy.

Get an instant message back,

Very, very busy,

Send me a text, will respond,

When find some time

From a schedule quite busy.

Answering thousands of social media messages,

It’s not very easy,

Of late, social media keeps

Everyone very busy.

Being social,

It’s a life not very easy.

Lost my chain of thoughts,

Brain must have been quite busy,

How to keep safe from Corona virus

It’s a task not that easy.

Say no to your destiny

How do you not say no to your destiny

And not find your own path,if any

Mark your own place in this world

To have your say you must be bold

Follow your destiny and bid your time

Soon you be old and time to say good by

So roll up your sleeves and put shoulders to the wheel

It won’t be easy but satisfaction you will feel

A path not marked by destiny for you to follow

Dangers will be plenty but life will not be hollow

You may fail or you may soar

But go ahead and explore without fear

You are the man to make your own destiny

You will mark your own time and place, no doubt, not any

So go ahead and say no to your destiny

Before it is too late

Sailing down the river of passion

At breakneck speed,

If we had time

To catch our breath,

Thousands of ways

I could have told you

How much I loved you.

Now as life is winding down,

And before the call comes,

I will just take a moment, and

Without much ado,

Simply say,

I love you.

I love you.

Heart of Stone

For a moment of your time

I gave away my whole life

Today you ask me for a moment

Alas, time has taken its toll

Left me a pauper

With a heart of stone

Temporal Absurdity

When there will be time,
It will not matter anymore.
False self importance,
Scarred life bears
Pains of lonliness
Amongst abundance.
In solitude
I close doors to the world,
Open my mind to the universe,
Fly in vacuum of black holes unseen.
Temporal absurdity rules.

We Travelled Time

I am visiting my home town, Guwahati, in India for Durga Puja. The nine day celebration (Navaratri) of worshipping Goddess Durga ends on the tenth day with the immersion of her idol on Vijaya Dashami (October 19th this year. Last I was in Guwahati for Durga Puja was in 1984.

On my way to Guwahati, I stayed in Kolkata for two days meeting my college class mates whom I had not seen for more than four decades. The poem below is an expression of how I felt meeting my friends, with whom I had spent five years of my life, after such a long time.

We Travelled Time

For a moment time stood still,
And then we rolled it back.
As decades collapsed to years,
And years squeezed to
Months and days,
For a few hours there
We found our fountain of youth.
Years fell of like
Leaves falling off a tree in fall.
Behold the miracle!
As Yayati sheding his old age
Embracing youth,
In the dying rays of an autumn sun
We took a dip in the fountain
And emerged as teens.
Bewildered eyes of our sweethearts
Questioning what madness engulfed us,
We travelled time.
Drank from our cup of memories.
Rejuvenated,
We parted, not with a heavy heart
But promises to meet again.
©Pranab Sarma, 2018

---

Yayati – mythological king who was cursed with old age at the prime of his youth. He regained his youth as his son Puru agreed to take his father’s curse and gave his youth to his father.