Time That Is Gone
written by: Sharmila Mitra
The music of the dance hall is no more.
All patrons have become too old to dance.
Our favourite taverns are old and sore;
The patterns on the floor are not just chance.
Old friends are no more singing in the rain;
The ups and downs of life have taken all
The dreaming, smiling fight against the pain–
Youth’s sweetness changed to something like the gall!
The dust of past days forms a curtain strong,
To lift which we no longer find the time.
We drift about, wondering what is wrong;
No penny for our memories, no dime!
Even the ashes of the halcyon days
Are gone to rest where the dusk is ablaze!
Sharmila Mitra, a former senior school English teacher, lives at her 85-year-old ancestral home in Kolkata, India. She lives with her mother, going on 80, and the remaining thirteen non-human members of her family---dogs and cats rescued from Kolkata roads and adopted as children. Poetry has always been her interest, but during her teaching years, as she grew and learnt with her young adult students, she began to take her creative thinking outside her classrooms. She has a few awards won at international writing competitions, and two volumes of poetry, to her credit. She picks her themes from what life throws at her.
Latest posts by Sharmila Mitra (see all)
- A Poem I Am… - August 30, 2022
- Time That Is Gone - April 17, 2020
