A Jigsaw Puzzle Poem by Ravi Panamanna

With a couple of utensils,
A bundle of things, a sack,
A rusty box, a broken cradle,
And in sunken dreams,

With a couple of kids
In rugged clothes,
In cadaver conditions,
I saw a family at the station.

Where were they going?
Where was their final post?
What were behind their sighs?
What told their vacant looks?

I inquired - there was information
His mother was breathing her last.
There was urgency
To reach home at the earliest

It was a couple of days’ travel,
They were crossing hills and dales.
Further the plains, beyond the ravines
They were challenging real distances.

A casual laborer, a contract,
A trench worker, rootless life
Sunny ways, toiling days,
Gypsy life and endless strife

But, from the deep skies
It was the call of the womb.
Winding up the contract
Now, it was farewell to these winds….

At last the train arrived
And they were on their wheels.
With a couple of lingering eyes
They forever left from my shores.

Alone in the platform,
I was in deep distress.
Will he see his mother alive?
Or ashes are awaiting him?

Man hath certain inevitable inns,
Man hath certain promises to keep.
He is facing many deadlines,
Life is forever a jigsaw puzzle.
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Based on a real incident.