Silence

There isn’t so much to tell-

Not anymore-

When today

Is not so different

From yesterday...or even the day before.

Tea and a little something,

For breakfast,

And then sending the guys off.

A few hours of chaos,

With the dog running around;

The maid scrubbing away:

The screech of the scrub against the pots,

Leaving a dull ache in my ears.

Picking up the book,

And opening it on Chapter 8;

The wail of the neighbour’s new baby;

Avoiding the phone once again

(I’m just not big on conversations).

The dog’s in the backyard now,

And the house so silent…

And somehow it’s become my one true friend-

No demands,

No questions,

No expectations...

Just blessed silence,

And me.

(Composed - 29 December, 2009)

Twelve Again

Each blade is tall
And green;
As a mother watches her little girl-
The one I've sometimes seen-
Chasing butterflies through the grass.
I'd chase butterflies too,
But I wait for my friend,
On my side of the wall -
The wall that sits between our homes,
The wall where we sit and talk,
And wonder,
About all the years to come...

I smell green coriander,
Sinking into a pot of yellow lentils,
And hear onion hissing in the pan...
'Maa' must be cooking.
The afternoon is almost spent,
And the sun seems so much nearer;
As if it might touch the earth.
I hear laughter,
From the open field -
It is my sister with her friends;
She has the bicycle,
So she must've fixed the flattened tyre.

I still wait:
I walk around,
I look around...
There are blackbirds around the swing -
Three of them -
But the postman's already gone;
I know all that isn't true anyway:
The "One for sorrow, two for joy..."
Impatience tugs on my arm,
And yet,
Life is beautiful,
For I am twelve again...

Reckoning

It's a burning ache
That bends your strength
And shatters the spine
Of your will
You cry
You die
And yet...death is not an option
But why do you care,
Anyway?
Didn't you say
That your soul was taken already?
So you must wait
Must endure
For it is fate
And yes, it is now your turn
You sowed...and so you shall reap.