24. March 29 Poem by Praveen Kumar in Simply Yours

I bade you grievous farewell on a gut-wrenching day,
And after a long sojourn of thirty-four years
In worlds far beyond all human horizons,
You re-entered my world like goddess in haste,
On an early sweet summer, stood close in my front;
Thirty-four to the dot, that was, since we did part,
And a changed world around and time did take its toll;
My dull eyes did fail, but you did recast our past
And I recollected all in frames as days passed by.

Where were you recondite in those painful years,
Neither you nor I aware, nor aware ever be,
How far or near, how long you flew, unaware,
But I stayed where I was, grieving all days
And found so much old while you re-entered afresh;
You reclaimed me with all fire a soul can possess,
No broken time slot, nor weaker future fares
Nor flares of pride touched you, nor fears of the world,
But, alas, your slot, you found, no more unoccupied.

You balked, I, a sinner, baking alive in pain,
Ran round and round to keep you in humour,
Opened gates to my soul, exposed my real whole;
You, gentle as sweet rose and fragrant as fresh jasmine,
Sweet as pure honey and fresh as morning dew,
Without a whit of rancour, accepted my state as is;
You, soul, mind, heart and body, always wanted me,
But, resolute not to hurt and vacate the occupied slot,
Stayed away in deep pain, biding for far away time.

Road we pursued was uncertain, full of turns and twists,
Thick fog of fears blocked visions of what lay ahead;
We, on the crust of mammoth tides in the ocean of life,
Rose and fell in turns, losing never our faith in other,
Never yielding dreams to the disaster of losing other;
Years rolled by, yet, no signs of us joining forever,
Nor you distance me to set your home in right order;
You stood like polar star, like rock on mountaintop,
Renounced all life’s joys in pursuit of common dream.

I had my life full with all its hues, shades, colours,
Feared for my flower losing pink in life’s platter,
Solicited and prayed to rebuild lovely days ahead;
But all fell on deaf years; you moved not even a whit,
Chose what you yearned for, or nothing you adore ever;
I, in day and night focus, devoted my all to you;
In two layers I lived, soul, heart and body tied in you,
Yet detached in outer shell, showed a normal life
Till our needs for each met to burst together inwards.

It was like gentle blood flushing all over the body,
As if spring blossoms to end the winter chill,
It was like noon sun showering full moon-glow,
A celestial bloom’s fragrance enwrapping all worlds –
Our souls danced in joy, dreams soared to high heavens,
Hearts soaked in colours, bodies blossomed like flowers;
We tied in other’s arms, dissolved in the other,
Body clinging to body, joyously we breathed the other,
And dissolved in the other, never again to part ever.

It is our fulfillment, our ultimate attainment,
For what we struggled hard along several worlds
With broken shattered soul, mind and bleeding heart
In endless cycles of life along the time’s passage,
Each time coming so close, but always forced to part
And breach our souls further in pining for the other;
How long this cosmic drama, how long shattering pains?
But never had we shrunk from each, from our cosmic bond,
Willingly bore all pains in sacred pursuit of each.

We know our common root, know our common state,
Know our common road, know our common bond,
Our common path ahead to common fulfillment,
Common dissolution as one in common cosmic light;
Though parted we remained long, parted ever cannot be,
For, can light and flame ever be parted for perpetuity?
Time unkind endlessly indeed ground us to helpless pulp
Only to find ourselves in unspeakable bond of strength
And in other’s inviting arms, we won our life’s end.

Sufferings perforce are long, unkind, and painful all along
And road to attainment algate is insufferably bleak,
While ends are truly high, enduring, lovely and noble;
Run the path and bear pains with unyielding strength,
For, how long and deep are pains, so enduring are the ends,
Know that nothing comes out of nothing in this world;
How long and deep one pine and struggles hard to reach,
So soon and closer it comes, so much sweet is its taste,
Only long and bitter struggle moulds truly timeless bond.