Correcting A Hazy Vision

I have a hazy vision, fail to see things candidly

I am counselled to see a doctor

Age is catching up with me and is not difficult to see

The advice is to remove the cataract, and you can better see

I am not blind; I can see my face in the mirror,

Shocking are my expressions, unmindful of pain around

I do not fail to see the distant rainbows, stars and the dreams

Yet remain blind to the agony beyond

I faintly recognise people with their masks

I do not realize whether they are joyful or mad

I fail to share the pains of homelessness and sleeping in the rough

I know age has caught up with me and a blurred vision is a burden on me

I see bolts on temples, churches and mosques,

I understand the germs are keen to breed once the locks are opened, Amen

I see clinics and hospitals transforming to places of worship

New messiahs in health workers, police and volunteers

I see no distinction in sufferings of different sects of people

Still fail to get past my parochialistic views on sect, religion, nationality

I pity my seclusion, indifference and confinement

As I see sparkling heart and mind dirtying their hands and feet

Mounds of food and bountiful love

They are everywhere doing their might

I know age has caught up with me and a blurred vision is a burden on me

When my cataract is corrected, I see an infinite vision

Ripples of love for doctors, police, essential services

As gratitude placed them under lockdown

Expected baby boom dedicated as a national duty

State borders strengthened with fence and gates

Celebrate their symbolic rivalry, daily through beating the retreat

Vision with boundless ideas built on history and experience

Backpack circuits created to honour thousand-mile walks

Racing calendar dedicated to cycling for girls cutting across states

Relive Emperor Ashoka’s era with pedestrian tracks along highways

Balconies turn to venues for concerts with

Bells, conchs, lamps, symbols of national unity

Vision becomes apparent, while fears over and done

Future navigates through tech-savvy education and work

Expanding the definition of home, workplace and ethics

Chasing new goals of growth while still working from home

Work is no more a destination but a new hope together with family

Everyone climbs the stairs into a new reality

Vision is transforming into desire with a goal

Children are winning over mighty small challenges

All small things moving in the right direction

Blessed am I, in getting improved sight with a new vision

Purely through a corrected cataract...