Looking Back Poem by Ruta Mohapatra

The hills and valleys are
Just wrinkles on mother earth
And yet, how they fascinate us!
Drawing us close
To climb, to descend,
To explore the caves,
Find hidden streams,
Volcanic lakes!

And they show us hiding places
So preferred by our ancestors
Where they have left for us
Ancient arts, palm prints,
To let us know
That they were there before us,
That they lived and died
Just as we are going to

The hazards were the same
Perhaps even more
And knowledge was limited
Or was it the opposite?
Seems they knew more
Understood more
About nature, about space,
About the stars!

And we, their future,
Their great, great grandchildren,
We, their dreams, their aspirations,
Have we become
What they wanted us to be?
Only the ancient hills can tell,
The ancient caves can tell
Who heard all that they said!