The Lamp Poem by Sharad Rajimwale

The lamps that gave light once
with their steady flames
wavered suddenly as the dark waves
thickened and threatened.
Their glow, shining up countless hopeful faces,
dimmed all of a sudden.

The flames bent towards the darkness.

The light mingled with the darkness
and disappeared forever.
The great betrayal had occurred.

I knew then I must burn my earthen hands,
to renew the heat whose light stole out
with the ebbing spirit.

There will soon come other earthen hands
to hold the embers, ready to burn and glow.

We waited for a change too long
hoping like the tree in the freezing winter.

It won't!

We must become the change,
to effect the change and knock the citadels
of darkness that's fast snuffing out lamps!

Sharad Rajimwale, Jodhpur, India