O Lord! what in me is dark, fill thou with light!
Cleanse my heart of every stain and wash it white!
Nor weatlh nor greatness, I do not ask for fame;
Grant me, O Lord! the gift of the holy name!
Sanjay Dhar
Laxmi Nagar, Sarwal, Jammu
FAR FROM THIS PLACE SO STRANGE
A change of habitat
Is like cold air over feet tucked in a blanket
It is a childhood friendship forgotten
And new wounds unstitched
It’s separation and broken promises,
And dreams finding a new stream.
A cruel joke placed on me,
I am a sad girl who has been cheated upon
Told that world wasn’t white anymore
And when my heart was still where I used to be
I tied my hair in two braids and danced in unfamiliar places
I missed my mother’s belly, My first Home,
Where I was protected from every storm.
The hilt of knife fit in my hands
I held on to it like my savior
For in this unknown world I’ve been put,
I’d rather pass away to someplace far,
Far from here.
Sumedha Manhas
Bahu Apartments, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
Mothers never grow old
That old house of village
Which was once built
With the sweat of my body.
Some wounds have appeared on its walls.
Looking not same old tidy.
That father who was
the crown of the house
Who with his iron like arms
Would tear the earth’s heart and plough fields.
Is facing difficulty
even to chew the food.
Too early life has become rude.
That brother who
jumped from house to house
To catch the kite.
Who Never feared to take a fight.
Now he can’t put much pressure on his knees.
In a flick the youth has fled.
That sister who
used to play with her friends.
Now hardly any message she sends.
Today is buried under the
Responsibilities of household.
Life takes turns so many folds.
That tree in the courtyard
Whose fruits we nourish.
Today its roots are also infested with termites.
It also stopped to flourish.
It was only the mother
Who never grew old
Who never looked for her own self.
Never fainted and felt cold.
Her kitchen still the same.
Sitting on the stove
Serving food with the same love.
She is the only one who
never gets tired.
She is one, who resembles lord.
Responsibilities never let
mother grow old.
Jagdish Raj
Senior Manager
PNB
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