When I Kissed And When I Could Not Poem by Akhtar Jawad

Recollecting the unforgettable moments
fragrance I still feel but the colors I have lost.
I remember a birthday party
enjoying the humors of your fourth birthday
as you were born on 29th of February
though you were appealing and exciting from all sides
your long silky shining hairs,
your breasts like buds slowly blossoming in a flower
your round arms restless to come around a neck
the petals of your lips excited to open
and to be kissed by a bumblebee,
on your sweet teen birthday
a funny fact
I saw only four candles on your birthday cake
though you were a perfect sweet sixteen.
but I saw sixteen intact candles yet to delight
a few in a sunny day
and a few in a moonlit night.
I thought leaving the rest for someone else
at least I can lit the candle of your lips.
When you pleased me with a dance
In my maiden life a virgin romance!
I dragged you in a lonely corner
and I lit the first candle,
on 29th of February,1964.
Your silent but naughty eyes I read
a friendly write
I could lit only one candle
and I should leave the rest
for one who is not merely a friend
someone more handsome
and more deserving for you.
Alas! I never knew
that was a parting kiss!
Now on 29th of February,2016
I am again dancing with you
I can read the write
of your sobers eyes,
"You should not extinguish
the first candle you lit
fifty-one years ago.
I am not only a mother
but a grandmother as well."
My leap year baby,
I know you are now a graceful lady.
Yet, I love both the birthdays
when I kissed
and,
when I could not.