! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! At Night Fall....! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Poem by Mamta Agarwal

At night fall…

Lost in thought atop a hill above Ganges
Eyes rest on terraced fields down mountain ranges.
Lush and verdant, almost pastoral at places.
Kids screamed as they rolled down towards riverbed.

Slowly the view gets blurred, day yawns, night falls.
I imagine I can see silhouettes in the dark.
Recline in my chair and soak in the silence.
Watch the night sky and glow worms flit by.

Stream of consciousness, takes me to childhood days.
Had a flashback to times when I was timid in some ways.
Mistook my sibling in white, for a ghost at large.
I really was scared of night, bats, owls and pitch dark.

How things change as one mellows with age.
Now I wait for night and as if on cue slow my pace.
Although I manage to just catch a glimpse of patch of sky
Through my window with roman blinds rolled up high.

After going over my day, saying prayers, switch off lights.
Draw up my knees and quietly wait for the quiet of night.
It’s only the night that has always kept its word to me
Secure in its embrace, I get respite, rest and dreeeeeam.