WHERE ARE YOU MY LOVE?

Lying in the bed,

Counting last minutes

Thinking of you with

Final breaths of mine;

Your countenance and voice

And your whole self

Not of this land or that,

To me you were gift divine.

 

Drifted aimlessly like

An oarless boat in life;

Long was the stream and

The current flowed rough;

Knew not where to go

Knew not where to stop,

Until I saw your face

Like a flower on a bough.

 

Accosted you dear with

Great hesitancy in mind

What’d you think of me

Dearest of all dears?

Was I a flirt, was I a rogue

Or a rascal of first waters?

But the twinkle in your eyes

Honey, belied all my fears.

 

Demure were you, Love,

Coy was your “I love you”;

Pinched myself I did,

Incredulous of my luck;

Stared at you I did,

With mouth agape;

“I love you too,” said I

With heart full of pluck.

 

Walked along lazy brook

In the path amid flowers;

The sky above, green below

Loitered alongside streams;

Not the village, nor the vale,

The whole world was ours

Head in my lap, grass in teeth

And you and I in dreams.

 

Spoke we did hours on end

And said sweet nothings,

About this and about that

And everything under sun;

Dreamt of our future with

Hope that the heart brings,

Not mere talk, promises they

Were, for life had just begun.

 

Wedded were we on

A moment auspicious;

Life was purposeless and

The world was hollow;

Came you into mine

And life was beautiful;

Like the lamb of Mary

Dear, you, I’d follow.

 

In your company, love,

Time just flew away;

Moments became days

And days became a year;

Not a moment’s sadness

Nor a fleeting melancholy

You are with me and

Life sailed smoothly, dear.

 

Change is constant, they say

I never understood it at all;

God must’ve been jealous

Of my endless marital bliss;

Sent, He did, the harbinger

Of impending calamity,

In the form of mishap with

All the powers of His.

 

Cruel was the day and

Dark was the wet night,

Rushed you for aid I did

When mishap struck you;

All the bright lights and

All the sharp scalpels

Could not save my dear

I lost my love that’s you.

 

Now I live, nay I’m alive

Know not purpose of life;

Oarless I’m once again

When you left me dear;

Drifting along directionless

Day after interminable day;

Ready to die and reach you,

That I can live again, dear.

***

By: Shyam Sundar Bulusu