Shades Of Reminiscence Poem by Lekshmi Menon

Still do i see with my closed eyes,
A canvas of tiled roofs and cherished dreams,
Of aged casuarinas and evergreen tapestry,
Glistening grounds and roofs of sublime bliss.

O the temple of all my visions,
The gleam of all my lamps,
The wine of all my goblets,
The shelter of all my dreams.

Three years you nurtured me,
Took me to your depths and purified me,
Most beloved and blessed was i in your frames,
Faultless turned my portrait with your every careful brushstrokes.

O ardent creator of my memories!
Without you how would i have learnt that pain never hurts?
If i ever felt this world is worthy enough to be lived,
It was when i lay tranced in your jubilant landscape.

Unhappy i have been ever since i left you
Solitude so tightly fastening the noose
Ah! the light that once cast a glittering halo over my head,
Has now left me to ornate some other visage.

Hermitage of all my happiness!
Every time i think of you,
I peer into my heart to take a close look at you;
I see you, your greenery, your rusty iron gates
And everything that i loved about and still love about you.

Tears come trickling down and drown you completely,
Like the rain that encompassed you and me,
When i first put my foot on your divine lap.
O i miss you deeply.

Every year the leaves of your trunks fall down
And new footsteps will be heard.
The incessant rain of laughters and nothing but laughters
Will drench you and tickle your silent corridors.

somethings can never be replaced, i do realize,
So are you to me my only heaven.

O the shades of my reminiscence!
Someday when you will be fast asleep in your warm nest
I will creep by your side just to pick a fallen leaf from your basket
And keep it safe to be put on my grave
Where i last lie waiting for another heaven.