THE STRAY BIRD
Youthfulness was just catching fire when his wife died
All urges for a remarriage was curbed down, for he feared
A step-mother might cast dark clouds in his son's little heart
He lived for his son and spent all he had to rear him up
His son settled down across the seas with his foreign wife
The caravan of dreams he had disappeared beyond the horizon
Like a bird with broken wings stays back from the flock
A small wish lingers behind and makes a nest in his bosom
To see, at least once, the foreign bride of his son
And to fondle a grant-child holding it close to his heart
"Prayers and penance will be rewarded, " he consoled.
Struggling hard to survive he turned old and crippled, dark and wrinkled
His heart lost rhythm and lungs turned cancer-hives
He still lives fighting privations and taming solitude
For a glitter of consideration and a soothing drop of love
' A small wish lingers behind and makes a nest in his bosom.......' beautiful line from a great poem. To my favorites.
A deeply poignant and touching poem with a captivating title. A great story with a moral lesson. It made me cry.
He still goes on fighting in pursuit of a drop of liquid of love.. great! An excellent poem!
Thank you Dr. Dillip. Black and white images around us have have a glare of truth like this
Thank you very much Aniruddhaji. Reluctancy for paring time and money for the parents who sacrificed everything for the sake of their children is forgetting duty and ingratitude
This is not a dramatic or an exaggerated presentation, but a heart wrenching instance of life that we see around us! Many parents sacrifice everything for their children and those thankless ones conveniently forget all such wilful sacrifices and move away to feather their own nests, leaving the parents to rot away in loneliness and misery. This widower's story has touched my heart deeply!
Thank you Valsa George. I have seen old people fighting with solitude, illness and privations with a thirsty dry throat for a drop of care and love. The ingratitude of their children precipitated hard in my thoughts
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A very nice poem which serves as a remainder for the younger generations who abandons their old parents for the better prospects in their life.
Thank you Devi. Pathetic conditions of ailing old parents without being cared by their children are a common scene all over the world which should change