I And My Boat Poem by Sharad Rajimwale

I sit on the slope of the bank
and I look at the boat
its half under shivering water
Green weed-filled water fills it
making way through unseen gaps.




I don't know how I shall cross the vast water,
for where I should be sitting,
tadpoles gambol
and crabs crawl
and the rest of it, above water, makes creaking sound
swayed by the lapping waves.

I sit and scoop the water into my hand
allowing it to drip[ down through fingers...
scooping up again...and again....
how many times I can't count.

I know, in thus measuring the water endlessly
evening will come
daylight will quit
and stars will smile across empty spaces
treetops will bend their rustling heads
and breezes pass through my hair.
yet I scoop the water, and let it dribble out

Knowing that precious life is running out
and that I must find another boat

But there is no second boat

God gave me only one life.

- - - Sharad Rajimwale
Jodhpur, India