A Tribute To Their Dreams Poem by Nitin Suresh

On a fateful day in December last year, the little child rose early in the morning, disturbed as the lullaby of the sea had come to an abrupt stop unlike yesterday.He walked to the doorstep to have a peep outside, to see the beginning of what was a fury that claimed everything he ever had …a story that was shared by thousands the day the Tsunami struck.This poem is a tribute to all those whose orphaned dreams that lay shattered amidst a traumatic life …

Hiding in some corner of his blossoming heart,
Was a dream caressing him and taking shape
Unknown to him, slowly tiptoeing as days passed by,
Creeping up with gentle strokes of his mom and dad

He dreamt of goodies for him and in lives he lived with
He dreamt of being famous in his village and beyond
He dreamt of riding the seas and enjoying the ride in it
Every day in every sleep he slept on the shores

Amidst the cries of life and the rushing death,
He saw, stuttered and stammered like a forgotten breeze
He saw the sea as never seen before
Like in hell, as in stories that his granny told him day before

It came as a gigantic flurry with an age old revenge,
A scorn to devour every one that lay by its side
Snapping up lives as fast and merciless as it could
Choking and shattering every being that didn’t matter

Life and death played afar on the shores
Dangling between a firm twig or on an unrelenting rock
There were no tears or shouts in the silent death
Just the mute cacophony as death marched by

The giant took his mom and dad and his dreams
Nobody to worry for his tears or his screams
In moments he was orphaned,
He died in his life too…

19/5/06