Then I Blinked
written by: Dr Santosh Bakaya
Using a rolled-up newspaper,
a bored man swats flies while sitting on his chair
in his balcony,
watching the capers of flamboyantly attired kids,
skidding, tumbling down, and getting up with triumphant yells.
Embraced by the fragrance of their pristine juvenility,
they run pell-mell, throwing all caution to the winds.
There is nothing but mirth and jollity.
Sloping down sand dunes, singing songs off-tune
No encumbrances. No shackles. Untethered they fly.
No ‘mind-forged manacles’, no problems difficult to tackle.
Yes, those were the halcyon days, when we hopped
on winged feet, in vivacity sheathed,
furtively meeting friends on scorching summer days,
mending broken fences, hollering loud greetings,
forgetting and forgiving offenses. Forever in a happy daze.
We were a bunch of goons-
but what a boon that happy time was!
In that empire of love, games, and toys,
there was no vampire of hate, only tiny joys.
Time peered with a steely-eyed stare,
harnessing its winged chariot.
Then –
Then I blinked!
Darn! Why did I blink?
In the blink of an eye, all that was gone.
Ah! I could not even bid goodbye. Sigh!
The charm of those magic moments still lingers,
when life was celebratory poetry in motion,
with gold dust on its fingers.
- Then I Blinked - March 19, 2023
- The Soliloquy of an Octogenarian - June 2, 2022
- Fret Not - March 23, 2019
