Om Chawla Poems

Looking far into the distance,
Earth seemingly meets the sky
And forms a line we call horizon.
Earth and sky so very different in character
...

{Part 1 of the poem is a narrative of my experience at Lahore where I lived before migrating to Delhi on partition of the country in 1947. I was not even 12 Years of age then. Part 2 of the poem is a reflection on the historical past}
1
Dark it was that moonless night
On the rooftop, as a child
...

What is silence? I sat brooding,
how this silence can silent be! ?
Silence without, crowds your mind
with many a shriller sounds.
...

Another year is coming to an end,
exchange of seasonal greetings will there be.
Best of wishes and noble resolves
will be showered and proclaimed affluently:
...

O thou fair nymph of art, dance
Dance that world may dance with you.

In thy grace is mirrored the grace
...

Having come this far
am so near the line
waiting to cross over.
Pensively looking back and reflecting
...

Learning enhances breadth of vision
Compassion adds humane dimension
Feelings impel you for action.
...

This year also we welcomed the new year
with boisterous cheering and illumination,
with clinking of wine filled glasses
while swaying and dancing with our partners;
...

O lovely lady from colder climes
You sing praises of summertime,
As it unshackles the chillier bind
Of preceeded freezing wintertime:
...

- -[For almost a millennium Hindu genocide continued to be perpetrated throughout the length and breadth of India so that the narrative of the following poem could be true of any city, town or village in India.]


Not far from the village
...