Shards Of Time

By Vijay Kumar

Tiptoe, as I over shards of time

I look over my shoulder, 

thence a call 

There’s nothing, no-one, except me 

Besides, a fence, a leafless lone tree 

and ‘pon it a plaintive swallow

Under a darkening sky and lands fallow 

An endless dirt-road behind, 

of shards I’ve walked over,

Of time    

‘Tis said the long road, erases memories, 

Maybe, but not the shattered shards, 

Of time  

Whence the first shard had drawn blood

I’d winced in pain

My feet shred, the blood drained

I now walk-on, not minding the pain 

As it’s just more of the same,

Of time

I recall the mirrors, 

And how they broke

With some, there was a crash  

Of some, no one spoke

Such is the silence, 

Of time   

Hands which had held the early mirrors, 

Were firm and strong

Yet the mirrors slipped, to fall  

Now the hands are older, 

Unsure and colder

Don’t have the courage to call

For another mirror,         

Of time 

Yet a mirror appears 

It reflects my wear and tear 

It’s cruel, this repetition, 

Bidding me to hold and peer 

Yet again, it slips and shatters

And I continue to walk, ordained, 

On the shards

….Of time

By Vijay Kumar