A Winner I Am Poem by Prafulla Kumar Panda

When the crescent moon has strewn her last light
somewhere beyond my human sight
the restless night looks before and after
and waits for a bright day tomorrow
like the lone night, here I restlessly sit
and look at my days before and afteras my men
do scream and shout
when the cruel Covid slyly enters their door
and like a leopard takes them away into the moor

like an orphan, I can't wait
for the Godot to bring me all smiles straight;
ere he comes after days wait
with a satchel of solace to allocate
i, like a tortoise, now helplessly withdraw in
and sit to patiently listen
to the 'soul' loudly singing
‘the song of life'
and reminding me all the timeof its all struggle and strife
which I once heartily sang with my mother
as I outstripped a gang in a run
to win her womb soon after

ten months together
i prayed from a lone dark chamber
just for a shower of light and a puff of air
one day with the rise of the morning sun
i popped up from dark to bright
and brought to her all smiles
and I like a gush of rain
washed away all her shudder and pain

i may fall but can rise after every fall
when in my heart a bagful of hope I lull
though life seems painful, after all, it's not to mourn
to live it by engulfing its every bitter potion
as the darkest night brings the brightest morn
a winner I was, will be one so in the days to come.

©Prafulla Panda, India.
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