GROWING OLD

Growing old

Time and again I have been told

“U r growing old”

The walls, sometimes, seem to whisper

“Your bday is here, old age is near”

I wonder why we were taught

“Old is gold”; when being old is so feared.

When I was a teenager

I was told to act mature

As I was growing old

Even before old age came

The chant of being old was there.

When I started working

I was told to save

Old age is a bad time

Don’t be so spendthrift

Or in Ur old age u will sign and heave .

I don’t see wrinkles on my skin

I still feel young and energetic

“You ought to get married now”

The neighbors say

Parents, subtly, the same convey.

I really don’t understand

What age has to do with marriage plans?

Why age is so magnified?

Why growing old is curse personified?

Talkative discussion

                                                 Talkative discussion

                                    When I was little I was told, men discuss n women talk

                                   Women work at home , men go outside the house….

                                   I noticed men standing near my school gate

                                  I wondered what they discussed, standing there, till late.

                                 Many just stood there and sipped tea and smoked

                                 And gazed and gazed, as if the girls’ were love letters

                                They seem to adorn each girl with their eyes

                                Practicing apodyopsis, as each girl went by.

                                Their discussing, as I grew, I realized

                               Were of a different nature

                               It wasn’t politics, it wasn’t games

                               If someone told u this, well it’s a lie.

                              U could never escape their roving eyes

                              They caught u, no matter how much u tried to hide

                              All u could do was walk, as though u were blind.

                             Men thought, women were made, to be enjoyed

                             Kept in the house, as a show piece

                             Not exactly calling her show piece but wife

                             Thought they seldom discussed it

                             You could see the signs of superiority in their eyes.

                             By and by, I realized

                            Women also discuss and men talk

                            But women have more to say

                           Coz they are the ones who work hard.

                           In fact they are expected to work

                           Without saying a word

                           If they open their mouth

                          Men say, women all the time talk.

                          Men numerous interests

                          When put in words, discussion is called

                         Then why are women accused of only talk…talk…talk?

the unsaid

         

The Unsaid

It was not given in writing

The words were never said

But she thought he understood

That word should not spread.

There was no bond for concealment

No promises to be kept

Yet he discussed it with his friends

In no time, it seemed

The whole world knew about -the unsaid.

The truth stared at her face

But she kept believing in the lies

And when she was ready to face it

It was of no consequence.

Probably he was a dropleton

Pretending to be something he was not. 

Yet ...sometimes, it made her feel ill

This wasn’t right

It was their secret

She wondered, why could he not just be quiet.

A Short Walk To Miles

A Short Walk To Miles

She turned around to have a better view of the monument standing afar

As she did so, her head banged against something hard

 She could hear the heartbeat, so she guessed it was his heart.

 She liked the rhythm of his heartbeat

Closing her arms around him to listen more closely

She asked “does your heart always beat so loudly?”

 He did not reply, for what seemed like eternity

She thought, he must be shocked, in all probability.

Realizing that she had crossed the line of decency

She starting withdrawing

But he held her close and lifted her

She closed her eyes and so did he

 “Damn!” She cursed, “How can I be so carefree?”

They had decide to take a short walk

But it seemed they were covering miles

She knew it was wrong and she should stop

But her greedy heart wanted it to last

In that twilight night

All the wrongs seemed right.

Time, she knew will never come back

Things will never be the same

She thought, So why not to live this moment while it lasts.