SOLDIER’S HOME COMING

Younder beyond the walled sky
Hark, the long awaited rattle
Of heavy wheels; I blush
He least bothers how I languish
In the breeze of autumn warm,
In the misty mooned winter,
In the fragrant smile of spring's charm,
In the sultry quench of summer.

But my man will come home
Once on leave every year.

Roll over mountains, gallop above seas;
Rattle of tanks is louder now,
Shouts, war cries, cannon’s roar;
Chained wheels plough the sky.
Limbs tremble, heart pounds in my ears.

Lowers his eyes, hunger burns,
Sparkle of lightning, laughter thunders.
Stoops down to embrace me;
Fire in passion, it melts, rains.
Fine threads of white jets
Tickle into my million starved pores,
Flood my rivers, inundate plains
Squeeze mountains and churn seas.

Pleasant tiredness, I lie relaxed
In the breeze that smells his sweats
While my commander and his armoured division
Disappear beyond the horizons
To reach back his cantonment
That I have never visited

Coimbatore
22.12.1987

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