WALKING STICK

 

WALKING STICK

 

Lonely road evening is silent,

Semi-dark lane narrow in the front,

Windows of houses lighted screened,

Doors closed, balcony lighted,

No sign of children, busy life,

Life reties after time hectic, job,

A tired human settles on a sofa, hot tea,

Wife busy preparing for dinner,

School-going children studying,

Siblings in college, absent at home,

An aged man walks down the road,

Stealing a glance through windows,

He enters his home double-storied,

The dark front door he unlocked,

Switched light on the front balcony,

Entered his home, lighted rooms,

Lone in the world children at far,

The wife with her son sick gets treated,

Prepared a cup of tea, reclined on a chair,

The walking stick inclined to the chair,

Cooling over the plate, he sips tea,

Looked at his walking stick and thought,

Once he trotted over the globe young,

Never he thought, a day will visit him,

A walking stick only supports walking,

Prevents him from falling down,

How essential in life surprising kit,

He roasted bread in an electric roaster,

Fried cabbage, vegetables on a stove,

Add spices, chili, and tomato sauce,

His dinner plate got ready quickly,

Drawing room polished, he lighted,

Incline to the sofa to watch television,

When sleep encroached not known,

It was midnight got awake hungry,

Brought dining plate to a sofa relished,

He is crying, did not know tears trickle,

Once the home was noisy, now silent,

His busy life got sleepy how soon,

Birds from the nest fled wings spread,

Not required to beg for a living,

Retired for years, no salary bill,

No bonus, incentive, extra money,

The pension from government arrives,

Deposited in bank monthly handsome,

 The only source of sustenance for him,

Never he asked children for money monthly,

He buys his medicine preventive a cost,

Pays his electric telephone bill monthly,

Annual House tax, water bill, income tax,

Walking stick only means to visit,

Clears all the payments to buy groceries,

He was looking at the walking stick,

How similar the pension  performs,

Surprise assured pension life in age,

A walking stick for passing old age,

Essential for men aged as a pensioner,

Not that lucky most aged people,

Pension missing lost the walking stick,

Falling every now n then immobile,

The man caresses his walking stick,

Deposited pension monthly, till death,

Essential for his survival, he realized.

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra