Sunday, July 17, 2011

The Final Flight of the Feathers



Quickly Alma opened the window
A little rain bird flew in and perched itself on the palm of the widow
“What message have you got for me, my bird
through the thunderstorm you have flown to my place
I’ll always take care of you little bird, I give you my word
Just let me know if my son’s alive under grace….!!”

The bird fluttered its white wings till a Golden Feather fell
She held it with her dampening heart and for a while she went pale
Impetuously her eyes, scurried through the words inscribed
Reading which, the life in her revived
True tears of joy streamed down her cheeks, she ardently proclaimed, “He’s Alive!!”
And As I watched her down from here, I was exulted………………………….

She dozed off into her chair, after the bout of forlorn days
She now atleast knew that both she and her son were kissed by the Golden sun rays
As the morning blossomed with the fragrance of sunlight
The rain bird chirped incessantly like a child till she arrived
Alma fed the bird with grains and water
She pampered the bird as if it were her own daughter
She wanted to reap the overgrown past and grow her future
But how could she do it…after all she was a mother…!!!
As I watched her down from here, I missed her warmth, and I shuddered…………………..

Years went by, with her each day, spent on the wings of the bird
Alma recited lullabies to it at nights, she went on living like this unperturbed
And then one day the news of the war stumbled upon her doorway
“The War is Over..!!”, she chirped like a bird..just like the rain bird
She was to meet her son, the twinkle of her eyes
She sewed the future events of his life, for him she had to find a lovely bride
The innocuous bird panicked caged in the incongruous sight
The now fledged bird couldn’t grasp the meaning of Alma’s behaviour
As I watched her down from here , I too feared…………………………!!!

One day it thundered and the tumescent clouds outbursted, as if failed to feign the pain,
Amidst the angst, the bird was caught yet again…!!
Alma this time awaited her daughter, she sat near the window praying
Till the bird flew in , and this time another feather, but a White One, fell out of its vest,
And Alma intuitively picked it up in a haste
It read, “I love you, my mother, and I miss you more than ever
But I want to make you aware, of the fact that my scars have now become fade
The rain outside your window has wet me, but don’t worry, I won’t catch cold
and I can see the sun winning over the sky, and forming the rainbow, it looks just  beautiful from here
but let me confess a lie, that I can no more wear
I had to lie, as you and your daughter were alone and needed to be taken care of ,
When you had met it at first, when the golden feather it had doffed
I had sent it, to you, for you, my Mother..
I was avowed that you would love it the way you would love your daughter
You’ve waited for me for a long time and now that the war is over
Now’s the  time for you to confront the inevitable truth….
the truth of the feathers…………………”
As I watched my mother down from the heaven, I missed her rebukes more than anything else in that world…

She wept helplessly deluged in her grief,
Which I had anticipated earlier and so to save her, I had sent the bird, the little nymph..
Who roosted on my mother’s thin shoulders
The bird chirruped a tune, which it had learnt while crossing the heaven’s borders
As I watched her, down from here, I too hymned the song…

That night I tried to sleep, but grief had thorned my pillow
I then heard a familiar lullaby, soothing me, gliding high from underneath the sky,  from under a willow
I got up and saw the mother’s beautiful face cupped on her palm, looking out of the window
She didn’t drag the grief anymore, she had learnt to bid farewell to the yore
She was singing the lullaby, for me, like always she had in my childhood
She knew, that she alone had the power to heal my scars
And so, As my mother watched me, up from her house, her eyes shone

I was freed from the heaven, freed from the insatiable heart borne

I then finally winged my Golden Feathers, to Fly Higher… to diffuse into the White Dawn…….
















7 comments: