AMELIORATED
Driving a car in the city exhaustive,
Traffic congested life suffocating,
Amid dust, noise inching forward,
Negotiating narrow streets, bending,
Surprising bullock, dog, pedestrians,
Hawkers marketing goods knock window,
Shopping center crowded, life at test,
Parked my car resting wait children,
Purchasing items needed at a shop,
Closing eyes, reclined in the seat,
Thinking, children growing, time fast,
Taking responsibility for the home, work,
All they want is my comfort, pleasure,
Alone going for a picnic, visiting a park,
Maintaining house clean, polished,
Looked after my dress was ironed, cleaned,
Polish shoes, preparing breakfast tea,
Happy children studying best,
Sweet home, peaceful erases tension,
Fewer worries for the future, children strive,
Caring for parents, responsible, hardworking,
Felt drowsy at the wheel of my car,
Interrupted me someone was calling,
Saheb, please, Saheb, please help,
A young woman with a baby in her bosom,
Dark sunken eyes, thin, naked,
I looked at the baby, touched my heart,
Churning somewhere, a pain,
Inexpressible, I looked at the woman,
A palm cupped empty she protruded,
Saheb, please give me, without food,
For two days without food, hungry,
I gave her a hundred rupees, and she vanished,
That evening I was feeling restless,
After the office, back home sat alone,
My daughter was standing anxious,
Why Dad, you are looking sad; what happened?
I was hesitant to tell her pricking thought,
Reluctantly narrated the event to her,
She was listening silently emotion less,
Her quietness is abnormal, unsettled,
Dad, the woman you saw in the market,
I know her; she was pregnant, unmarried,
Her family threw her out, society boycotted her,
Now she is begging with a baby,
The incident circulated in our city,
I, the next day on leave, searched for her,
Found at last, after a whole day of effort,
Talked to her, took her to a shelter home,
Paid contribution needed,
She was accommodated I offered her cloth,
For her, her baby, little money,
I left at midnight and left her in her room,
Her ameliorated life saved from pavements,
I could not forget her grateful eyes, silent,
Never spoken a word to me, I knew all,
Ameliorated my tortured soul, slept,
Long hours at night, I was thinking,
God permits, mysterious life is so complex,
Mute, deaf, blind for human deeds,
Exhibits love and compassion.
@ Bijayananda Mishra
