The Album

By Venkatesh E

Those were the time of “black & white”

I was dressed up in colours bright

I was just fourteen years in age

When my first photo was inserted in the first page

That is still a refreshing snap

Even after a long gap

The second page is during my marriage

When I was eighteen years in age

I was nervous and excited

As everyone was invited

That was the day of distress

As I had to smile in stress

The twelfth page in this memories’ album

Is the festival moment from

The last celebrated festival of colours

Thrown joyfully over each other

That was still the time of “black & white”

With colours flying high and bright

Come to the thirteenth page

See my children one & two years of age

I enjoyed my childhood with them again

Lot of sacrifices for a small gain

Those are the moments I still miss

When my life was in absolute bliss

Like the petals from a dry flower dropping

My children quit me when they spread their wing

They boarded the flight leaving me alone

They never even called me over the phone

Those who had played on these aged shoulders

Have now chosen the path of their “late” father

The last photo in this memories’ album

Is the prestigious moment from

The capital where I received the award for

My husband’s bravery in the border war

That was the time of colours bright

But I was a widow clad in white

The album thus comes to an end

And so, will one day her life

That is how a little girl grows

And sacrifices as someone’s wife

That is when she becomes a mother

At last left with no one to bother

Those who are in the album today

Will tomorrow be in frames

They will never again come your way

Or even call your names

Love them before they pass away

Before they are buried in the clay

Or set in colourful flames.

By Venkatesh E