The Legendary Fall

Supple brown skin with wisdom in every fold

Majestic the walk and talk

That birthed and shaped every author’s mould

Inspiration you exhaled through every word’s essence

Exultation we felt when you were in our presence

Long were the hours we listened to your narration

Of delegates and aristocrats you spoke of in your oration

The pen we longed to see sweep across your paper

Hand and mind debating to give the end now or later

Editors and Arbiters hawking at the pearly gates

To judge you so they could try to fudge you

The indelible work of yours in every way

20^th of Jan, 20 more days to go

For that fateful night when everything had gone but right

Unforgettable a night that it was,

Every arbiter and editor were no longer your foes

Admiration and Pride was all we felt

On that fateful night to see it all melt

How can I digest the way you left?

Fleeted off like your anger away from our sight

More than a grandfather or a father,

You were a friend

Who inspired us to do things and never quit until the end

Thatha, I long to see your pen stroke the paper again

To stand by your side

My face feeling your greatness in your every stride

Though it is still hard for me to believe

10^th year running since your ashes were part of the sea

I love you Thatha for everything you have been

A Grandfather

A Father

A Journalist

A Patriot

Sacred to my pride you will always be

Until the tide washes me by…

To You I dedicate “The Legendary Fall” – Love you Thatha… In memory of the fateful night you collapsed on stage fulfilling your every dream till the end. Miss you.

Phoenix from the Ashes

Powder of ashes like snowfall in winter

The air and army withered in a splinter

Smoky-grey flaky leaves dead and forgotten

Each cobblestone tinted and tainted

Things of dishearten

I stand in the middle of a big large road

With ashen embers resting on my lashes

My coat and tote limp from the bashes

People lay, some far away and some grey,

The death spell cast on all the bay

I feel a tug in my heart,

Shocked at the sight

Cursed fates for a deadly plight

I stand alone, guilty for having survived

No goodbyes or funerals to leave me teary-eyed

The carpet of carcasses in front of me lay

Left me with loud realization of a lonesome foray

I wished I were blamed for their unjustified departure

Or for my survival inexplicable in any form of literature

The sky now looks a faded rotten orange

With the embers settled like a thick mat on the ground

Suddenly the sound of tip tap made me jump

From my lost thoughts.

My coat and tote comes back to life

I feel a tug and around my calf a hug

The most innocent eyes looked up at me

And said, “Mommy, I want to go home please…”