Pilgrim’s March Poem by DILIPBHASKER MATHRA

The path was narrow
Steep and rocky
The journey was tiresome,
But we walked under the impulse
Of determination and with pleasing thoughts.
It was a task of daring faith
So unconcerned about pain or worry.
No body chattered,
No body murmured.
Only sunk in speedy breath
A spontaneous sensation had
Shielded in our blood and felt
Along the heart and passed
In our mind to purify vague feelings.

Legs sore, punctured throughout
On pungent stones
When puff exhaled from the lungs
Every one chanted the name of the Lord.
Lofty mountains stood ahead
And swift streams beneath
Wreath of smoke sent up, in silence
From among the dark pine grove
Mist and fog clothed over the
Landscape of the paramount Himalayas.

The sweat poured from faces
Often to conceal the cold, but
In all our hope felt God’s presence.
We reached at last over the last step
Of that dream spot of our expectation
Where our ascent ceased
And saw the white quiet of sky above,
Below the great temple Kailas.