Tree Climbing Poem by Alexander Raju

Tree Climbing
(In memory of my nephew Febin Varghese)

My loving nephew passed away
Before completing his teen age,
The vehicle he was driving
Slipped into a dark and deep gorge,
Putting an end to his fond dreams,
And the hopes of his relatives!

Youngsters' unexpected death
Is the greatest devastation
To the family and the nation
That watched their daily growth from birth;
Death anniversaries will pass one by one
But their memory turns a pang in the heart.

One day we were in an island,
With all the mirth of a picnic,
He displayed his calisthenics,
Swinging on wild creepers, climbing
Up on tall trees; and now I think:
He climbed up and up on a tree
And entered into the blue sky;
Or vanished into the thin air
Merging with the elements there;
And became one with eternity!

April 2019
From Face Book (later Poem Hunter)