The Stray Bird

THE STRAY BIRD Youthfulness was just catching fire when his wife died All urges for a remarriage was curbed down, for he feared A step-mother might cast dark clouds in his son's little heart He lived for his son and spent all he had to rear him up His son settled down across the seas with his foreign wife The caravan of dreams he had disappeared beyond the horizon Like a bird with broken wings stays back from the flock A small wish lingers behind and makes a nest in his bosom To see, at least once, the foreign bride of his son And to fondle a grant-child holding it close to his heart "Prayers and penance will be rewarded, " he consoled. Struggling hard to survive he turned old and crippled, dark and wrinkled His heart lost rhythm and lungs turned cancer-hives He still lives fighting privations and taming solitude For a glitter of consideration and a soothing drop of love