Flowering by the roadside, beside the softest footfall,
Towering before you, along the lengths of many a wall,
Violets, pinks, whites, blues, more colours than you can call,
And yet, seen and unknown, like the spring in every fall.
The tulips, the magnolias, and dahlias, all begin as a bud,
Blossoming forth from the seemingly nothingness of the mud,
For that single day the live, knowing when their sun is done,
Hoping they have somehow made a mark on someone.
It takes courage to look into somebody’s empty heart,
And search for the remnants of the hate that made love depart,
To walk along with that person down their memory lane,
And understand how love could be replaced by such disdain.
It takes courage to face hate, face to face,
And call it what it really is, a double face,
The mask that detests, and love, the actual face,
One that is always being forced out of its place.
It takes courage to confront the other person’s spite,
And soldier on, the challenges of rejection despite,
To convince the spite, that even dislike has a respite,
And that even defeat knows, when its has lost the fight.
It takes courage to drag love back, into the game,
And show it, that to return home, is never a shame,
To help it find its pride back, and repeat its own name,
And continue creating moments, that are worthy of a frame.
It takes even more courage, to do all of this,
And know that the doctors and healers, nobody will miss,
Ones who ignore their heart’s pain, so that others can heal,
All the while maintaining a smile, that changes the way we all feel.
This one marks the return of my infrequent muse/Beacon, Aparna. As usual this one is about those smile through their own suffering, so that others who suffer more can find something to stand upon. So that others can get out of their misery seeing the happiness that even a genuinely pained smile can bestow on them.
And oh, i forgot to mention, i wrote this during the AHM. It was loads of fun, with Anne Jacques sitting beside me, trying to decipher the heiroglyphics that my handwriting is, and wondering what kind of notes i was busy taking with a heading that shouted Petunias. For me, it was a pleaasant escape from all the humdrum.
*
Aparna
April 10, 2010
How do you know so much about her?
guptaghost
April 12, 2010
Difficult question. Simplest answer would be, because i was sitting diagonal to her during degree exams. But that only explains the smile obsession part. The rest of the character sketch, lets just say, some clever workings!!! 😀
Aparna
April 14, 2010
Wow..Nice! Clever workings..whatever that means..care to enunciate?? You are my senior or Junior??
guptaghost
April 14, 2010
no and yes. The workings, well lets just call it a trade secret. i am your junior.(you would probably remember Priyanka, Vishal, Aruna or others more [coz, i was more or less blending into the walls. always try to :D])
Aparna
April 19, 2010
Why blend into the walls? You should have at least said ‘Hi’! Anyway, saw on FB that you work for Deloitte..find me a job there ??
guptaghost
April 19, 2010
well, that’s coz i was busy for most part of college bunking classes/campus to learn the ropes of a trade. besides, i only noticed you during exams. lucky thing was i would only take 90 mins. for any exam. so that left the remaining 90 mins. for all kinds of daydreaming/doodling/stargazing/’sight’-seeing. 😀
Sure thing. but you’ll have to come down here to Hyd. coz i can’t refer you for openings there. 🙂
Aparna
April 19, 2010
Really! I assumed you were a geek topping all exams..Don’t know how I came to that conclusion!
Hyd is what I meant. or for that matter, anywhere in India!
guptaghost
April 20, 2010
Too bad for you. I was never and will never be a geek at topping all exams. For me, the point of exams is to pass, so i wrote all exams for just the amount that would get me through, nothing more, nothing less. helps focus on more important things. 😀
if Hyd is what u are lookin at, ready any day, anytime. besides ppl in ur line of work are always in demand @ Deloitte Hyd.
Aparna
April 26, 2010
A shout out to you over at my blog!!
guptaghost
April 27, 2010
thanx, you give me undue credit, and most often, that is too much of a burden.
and besides you’ve a price to pay for shouting. you’re up next in something called ‘Crossroads’.
Aparna
April 28, 2010
Looking forward to it..