When I Lost My Oar Poem by Santosh Bakaya

IN THE MIDDLE OF WULLAR LAKE, I LOST MY OAR KASHUR QALAM 13
Long, long years back,
My dad, a champion swimmer had swum the Wullar Lake
In the December chill.
How he loved Wilde, Robert Browning and William Blake
‘Az roz saaney dil bar myaney', sang he.
Rowing the boat of life merrily down the stream
Yes, he knew, that life was but a dream!
So he sang his heart out,
The cedar, the willows, the firs were all ears
Wondering what the notes were all about.
Then things went utterly wrong, none hummed that song
What followed was a cold, cold night.
Unending.


The champion swimmer, could not swim against the tide
The Grim Reaper came on a monster astride.
Hearts stopped, with horror, eyes grew wide.
I felt lost, as though I was in the middle of the Wullar Lake
And had lost my oar.
I cried and cried like never before.
Who would now row my boat, singing his favorite songs?
In bleak nights, how I still yearn for those melodies, those songs.