Resilient Eyes
It hits me with surprise, the density of the scene,
Like a rainbow that forgot to be colorful with glee,
I sit there mute, without a word in my spleen,
Watching the painting of life unfold shamelessly before me.
The auto-rickshaw coughs itself to a relieving pause,
As the driver proceeds to wipe off the dust on the screen,
My attention shifts to a child who is center stage because,
She is about to perform a trick I have never seen.
Her head wobbles and a string spins in abundant energy,
As she starts to dance her young limbs to please me,
Her smile is radiant, but her eyes say ‘set me free’,
As her little brother joins her in this momentary ecstasy.
The sibling pair brings out a rusty metallic ring in view,
And squeeze themselves in and out of it with effortless ease,
Looking back at me with an enthusiasm anew,
Wanting me to applaud and reward their latest feat.
The brother disappears; the young girl approaches me,
As the light gets ready to turn back to green,
“Friend, please give me something…” hums her tender voice like a bee,
As I sit there unsure if I should resist and never be seen.
Thankfully, my heart makes the decision for me the following second,
When I find my hand slipping into my pocket to fish out,
Whatever I can find there to lend this young flower amend,
Hopefully something that she has been dreaming forever about.
The signals make way, to another wave of screaming automobiles,
And soon the girl, her brother and the ring vanish like ice,
Yet miles away from that spot, I cannot help how my heart feels,
About the helplessness and fatigue that I had seen in her eyes.
I get off at my destination, looking forward to meeting a friend,
Yet with a haunting image of the young face still in my way,
I closed my eyes and silently prayed to the unknown to end
Her misery and grandly reward her mute resilience some day.
..ShaKri..
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1 reflections:
Nice poem! I feel so sad for those little ones without basic education, unprivileged, struggling to survive. It’s so hard to imagine their life. Children are the hope and future of any country. So what kind of future will a country have with these children? No doubt that the govt has brought out many schemes and policies for them. But is that reaching the needy? It makes me so sad that due to the unawareness of these facilities, no guidance by their parents or care takers, lack of publicity, lack of NGOs and counseling cells they are still not benefited by the facilities given away by the govt. I feel, instead of mourning at the state of these kids, if we spend some time to help them out, we can bring smiles and better life for those kids and perhaps we can build a better nation.
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