Fifty Long Years! Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

Fifty long years!
Yes, after fifty long years,
my school-mate rang to me
getting my cellphone number
from my kin in my village.
“Saami! (God!) . Do you recognize this Ganesan Saami? ”, he said.
“ I’m sorry. I don’t remember who you’re.Pardon me please! ”
“Your school final classmate and your room-mate, Saami”, when he said,
“O my Ganesha! Forgive this mad fellow. How you are….”,
I completed my queries after two minutes.
“O my Saami! Hearing your voice,
I feel as if I got immense wealth.
Pleasure fills and overflows my heart! ”, he uttered in a broken voice.
He continued: “You spoke about me and my family. I’m so happy.
But, don’t you remember that girl, your nightingale, Saami? ”
I kept silence for a while and murmured,
“who is that girl, my friend? ”.
“O, you pretend as you’ve forgotten”, he said.
“Ganesh, She was a girl fifty years back
and now she is sure to be a senior-citizen like me”, I explained.
“Don’t you like to speak with her? She is nearby”, he said.
“When I scribbled a few lines to that girl,
her father and brothers chased me to kill.
If I speak to that old lady now,
her sons would be rushing here with guns!
I’m sorry Ganesh! My limbs feel weak,
and have no strength to run.
People get caught while breaking loose in social media.
So let that face sleep in my inner mind
undisturbed by my call or a written scroll”, I said.
Though my hurt heart longed to chat with her
I don’t know why I said, “NO” to my friend.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -