Come Back To Me Once

Settled miles away

From the gentle rejuvenating sweet smell of this soil

Which nurtured you with its wet pleasing fragrance

The meadows amidst which you were born

Where you played Hide-and-seek, Gilli-danda

And in numerous other games with your pals

You left it all alone, wishing for you to come back soon

The smell of that moist soil still longs for you

My wrinkled face puts on a smile as

My ageing eyes look beyond the trail Steering your memories to the threshold of the patio

Where you spent your childhood in innocence

Amma-amma, in your shrill voice

Still reverberates in my ears,

And sounds so fresh in that backyard

Where I sit relaxing during my life's dusk

My drooping eyes

My ageing, fragile expectant ears

Still yearn to feel you, Your presence

Obliterating your remembrances

Of the narrow alleys leading to your mother's womb

Those skyrocketing high-rises, the metallic roads

The buses, the trams and those motorrads

The vibrant night-life, the colourful skyline

Have captivated you leaving you spellbound

But those alleys still memorialize your adolescence

Craving to resound your footsteps once again

The perfect combination of the pinks, purples and green pieces

Have left you so mesmerized

To do away with

Your perfectly imperfect relationships

Oh! how ruthlessly the chinking of coins

Have deafened your ears, not letting them hear

The whimpering sobs of your mother

And rejoice in this part of life

What is so wondrous about these valued riches

That has propelled you out

Of your invaluable belongings

Oh my dear son of this wet soil

My dejected, dispaired, desolated eyes

Wish to see you just once

Before, I finally retire to give way

To some industrialist's ambition