The disquiet in my heart

Raps the door so harshly

That my spirit collides

Like turbulent waves

Rising and falling with undue force

The heat of the day

Pronounces its dreary laziness

That envelopes the heart

And churns the feelings

 There seems to be no respite

In the jostling thoughts

That echo and re echo crudely

 Ringing

The dullest notes ever heard

Where have the wondrous days flown?

Leaving me desperately

Forlorn and yearning

Each passing year tramples

The exhausting footsteps

Engraving upon it

Myriads of fading hues

That once lightened the path

The gloom persists

As the sunshine recedes

Into the background of

Waning music of the

 Wind, the busy humming bees

The twittering of birds

Just as

The music in my heart

Has stopped its mellifluous flow

The glitters and sparkles

Hang on icy icicles

Like stalagmites and stalactites

Frozen and hardened

To touch

The wounds deep and gashing

Are charred injuries … coals?

Ignited and fiery

Waiting to mingle

In the dust

                                                ~Shobha Diwakar

                                                   Jabalpur, India