Say No To The Paper Tube Poem by hema ravi

(LIFE POEM)

He sat there on the settee,
A vacant look on his gaunt face,
It had wrinkled considerably,
His hair was now a peppery white.
A ghost of the handsome man
with chiselled features
whom I had met a decade ago.

The macho man, the rage at college
now sat forlorn and dejected.
Unkempt, dishevelled hair, crumpled clothes,
A pathetic sight! His days were numbered.
He was dying of lung cancer
in the prime of his life-
Chain Smoking was the cause.

Cautiously, I took a step forward,
Sat quietly on the chair beside him.
A feeble smile. “You look the same! ”
“What’s the secret? ” he asked.
“Healthy diet, exercise and yoga, ” I answered.
“What have you done to yourself? ” I blurted,
Then, bit my lips hard.

“Yes! ” he whispered,
I have brought about my own doom,
Wish I had paid heed to you all.
Gazing at the photograph opposite him,
“To her, I’ve cause untold misery.”
“Never get hooked to this!
This message, I would like you to carry to all.”
A year later......
a pleasant surprise awaited me one morning.
That familiar writing!
Feeling of joy, disbelief surged within.
Eagerly I waited to receive him
With a thousand questions lingering.

The auto stopped. Out stepped he, pale but cheery.
I rushed out to embrace him, “Mano, I can’t believe it! ”
“Me too! ” he quipped. “I wished to die in my ancestral village.”
“The Divine has willed it otherwise. Aged aunt, a Florence Nightingale,
fed me herbs, concoctions, mixtures which I swallowed with grimace.”
“Medical Miracle! ” “And now, I am ready to lead the campaign.”

Hema Ravi,17.08.09