Baba Poem by NAYANIKA DEY

I know if I lose myself,
Amidst the huddle,
If my squeals become unheard,
And voice turns mumchance,
Your hands will still,
Reach out for me,
To pull be back in your lap.
I know I will find you,
Right there, like a bulwark,
In front of me,
Perforating the arrows,
Of disgust, despairs,
And despondencies,
In your heart, shielding me.

No matter where I go,
What I do and whoever,
Moves ahead of me,
Betraying and dilapidating me,
No matter if I get caught,
By those phantom hands,
Cloaked and masquerade,
As enforced camaraderie,
Like defying gravity, disobeying,
All your words that semaphore,
As forewarnings,
I know I will still find you,
Right there, right behind me,
Forgiving and,
Lending me your shoulder,
And your fingers wiping,
My opulent teardrops.

Whenever I lost myself,
In the heart of darkness,
Feeling breathless,
Getting derailed,
While walking on,
The rail tracks of life,
I've always got you,
By my side, holding,
My cold numb hands,
And hauling me back,
To the right tracks.
Whenever I got wrecked,
I got sunk down,
Into an unknown,
Abstruse and obscure pool,
Of fears, and lifelessness,
You've sailed me back home,
In the kayak,
Of your loving arms.

At times when my sanity,
Gets graved in the sod,
Of failures,
And in the copious
Vacuum of hopelessness,
You say, 'life is like an
Itinerary, yet with unscripted pages,
Waiting to be scripted,
And re-scripted by us if needed.
Life is like a rope,
Which you need to hold on to,
And if the sweat,
Of your palm becomes too much,
To loosen your grip, I'll be there,
to catch you if you fall,
And your heart, is
As profound as the sea,
Leading paths to a,
Thousand dreams and,
Your limits, dart till
The horizon.'

You say, 'Sometimes,
What goes without saying,
Comes back saying even more,
Thus you need to keep,
Listening to the ebb and flow,
Of those aquamarine tides,
As they keep,
Coming in and out untied.'
I ponder how exquisitely,
You answer to all of them,
When my mind,
Travels to unknown,
Ardent destinations,
And drags out questions,
From such unfathomable,
Dark wells.
You never lose your patience.

I have always seen,
The signs of your struggles,
The globs of your blood,
Plopping down in becks,
In the form of sweats,
To bring that money home,
To satisfy and to fulfill,
That my childish soul,
Always hankers for.

Let me walk,
A little slower, Baba,
For, my footsteps,
Should not run,
Faster and ahead of you,
Just as yours never did.
You used to balance,
My tender feet on your toes,
And walked straight,
And those never ending,
Daddle Saddle.
The playful arch of giggle,
On my face, when you used to,
Lift me up and tossed me,
In the air, always reflected,
My faith and I always knew,
I will fall back only,
Right in your arms.
Let me be the stick,
You can hold on to,
Let me be the beams,
Of your old age,
And the trestles of your life always.

~Nayanika Dey