Sunset

Nursing my secret longings I lie awake in the wee hours of the night Mind restless, like a caged bird craving redemption My thoughts journeying through time and space I recognize a thousand appetites Still waiting to be appeased! Sadly there isn’t time enough To realize what I really crave. It is in the stillness of the night When sleep deserts the eyes That mind derails its track And wanders like an aimless vagabond Though rooted firmly on the ground At times, I feel, I lose my bearings How I longed to paint my sky In garish colours and shades! I wonder if the scales of my life’s balance Lean more to gains or losses now! There was a time when hope ruled the roost And I heard love’s soft whispers all around! Now I am unable to precisely tell What my mind craves and pines But this much I know for certain I am becoming worn and old Years have so quickly skipped past me With youth and beauty sapped away Leaving life an exhausted well With the dregs remaining at the bottom My eyesight has waned, the youthful lustre gone My once supple knees have started to creak And the muscles, begun to sag I feel as vulnerable as a foetus in the womb Pain grows with years As a smudge deepens into an erasable stain Alas! I am no wizard to call back all that left But listen to the *‘long, melancholy, withdrawing roar’ No more springing steps And a fast fading cortex Still I stretch myself To catch at Hope, winging away!