Spring's Flowers

When the yellow gulmohars and trumpets

Begin to blossom, and usher in spring,

The park oozes a poetic charm,

And brings back a faraway memory,

Of another February afternoon

When you had waited for me, in the garden

The Sun pierced through the golden canopy,

And a few rays barely managed to reach you, 

Rendering your hands warm,

As I craved to be with you

A thousand miles away. 

Spring had arrived, 

But, it failed to ring in the spring

Of our lives!

When the gloomy clouds piled up,

The strong winds joined in, to brew up a storm,

And the thunder screamed a warning of rains,

It sent a shiver down my spine,

Like the other day, when rains had battered the streets,

And a flooded city stood between you and me.

How you whispered the prayer, a hundred times,  

For the train to be late,

How I longed for a parting hug,

One last time!

But why was nature so cruel

When the engine blew the horn 

And dragged out of the station grudgingly, 

You were not around to wipe my tears!

When I look out of my balcony at the dry branches,

I notice the dried leaves on the ground below,

There isn't a waft of breeze, 

I can't feel the fragrance in the air, 

Neither hear the music of birds,

Like, the days I dread of,

When I'd be lying on my cot,

Gazing out of my window,

At a moonless sky,

Without a stir in the breeze,

Your fragrance missing

But a ticking sound that felt like your heart,

I couldn't be sure

My brain too numb to reason.

I smile away at the memories

Or maybe, the dreams

Of your hand locked in mine, 

Under a canopy of spring's flowers

Not realizing 

When I doze off into a long peaceful sleep!!

© Sashikant Mohanty