Anecdotes Of A Poet's Inhabitation

By Meera Jenkal

There’s a man who sits across the street.

Saving a smile for everyone he does meet.

Painting a world that no one sees.

Telling children fascinating stories.

He whistles a merry tune.

Some call him a dreamer, some a loon.

I know him none too well or long.

But when he whistles, I sing along.

There’s a dog who believes,

She can see ghosts and fairies.

She hangs her tongue to test the breeze.

As she wanders through gardens and cemeteries.

When others leave, she’ll stay.

Guiding spirits who’ve lost their way.

She may not have a collar or pedigree.

Like the biscuits I give her, she is free.

There is a girl who found Neverland.

When she talks, she does with her hand.

She has friends no one has seen.

And goes places no one has been.

She runs behind glow-worms and butterflies.

Chasing clouds in the skies.

There is a kingdom where she is Queen.

I may not understand, but I know what she means.

There is a frog who lives on a lily.

Croaking a story seemingly silly.

He believes he is a prince.

Cursed by a wizard and a frog ever since.

He sits by the pond and sings every night.

For a love that will change his plight.

If a kiss is all it takes for his dream come true,

Is he so different from me and you?

There is a man who lives by the sea.

People say he doesn’t know reality.

He writes letters of love and longing.

A message in a bottle sealed with a ring.

Ever so often, he sails it into oceans deep.

Knowing a mermaid will find it and keep.

As he waits for a fin and harp.

I bring him papers and pencils sharp.

Then there is me who writes poetry.

Wishing of things, as wishes were meant to be.

I make up words, tales, and mysteries.

Of people, places, and memories.

I spin a world of dreamers and dreams

Where nothing is as it seems.

Who is to say what is true.

Unless it happens to you.

By Meera Jenkal