RESPITE

An octave of periods at school

Followed by grilling tuitions pool

Badminton and dancing sessions in tow

Abreast with every news, wretched brow

Ceaseless sessions of books, classes and training

Gulping down the knots of ache

A timid little child wants to think

If only perfection could get some respite…..

Mugging notes, penning theses

Grasping basics, doing lab pieces

Sitting through a tandem of exams

Sweating nights marked by tension and psalms

Sitting by the window, a ‘bright’ young mind wonders

If only success could get some respite..…

Rearing children, raising a household

Doing dishes, cleaning, meals and mould

Caring for and teaching the young, the art of living

Making love to serve her husband beseeching

Connotating with a machine, a silent woman contemplates

If only my rights could get some respite..…

Tackling the office hoopla all day long

At home, doing the regulars along

Many schemes, many policies, many funds

Redeeming future and building present bunds

Burdened with responsibilities, a man yearns

If only obligations could get some respite..…

Multiplying trends, prying privacy

Blooming fashion, abundant diplomacy

Dying rituals, dying culture

Defying traditions, falsifying propulsion

Astonished by the changing times, an elderly pair of eyes feels,

If only modernization could get some respite..…

Several scams, several scandals

Heinous rapes, undying crime blunders

Honor killings, fetus dumping

Corrupt system, burgeoning terrorism

Witnessing the grim reality on television

An avid, an eager youth longs

If only my nation could get some respite…..

From the undying glances and crisp ooh-aahs

Constant murmurings fill as the air pooh-paahs

When a girl and a boy go places together

They become a sensation, no bother!

Gazing deep into the eyes of each other, both try to fathom why,

If only love and emotions could get some respite…..

Toiling in the heat and cold alike

Laying the bricks and mortar on the road

Reminiscing over his constraints and plight

Wondering what the day’s earnings fetch?

Will they suffice the needs of his family etched?

Brooding in the daylight, a laborer gasps

If only poverty could get some respite…..

Sitting in a plush office, conference ongoing

Bone china and files, the table adorning

Away from home, lovely children and wife

Filing tenders in the business beehive

A rich veteran silently ponders

If only making money could get some respite..…

Racing to reach the pinnacle of success

Every man changes, owing to worldly demands obnoxious

Innocence, honesty, patience, all virtues denounced

Sighing, where the world is now pronounced!

Digitalization and greed rampant, observing, I wonder

If only development could get some respite…..

A thousand awry emotions!

A bundle of propositions!

In today’s pacing life, humanity lost

I only dream, how at any cost!

I would express. I would care.

I would give. I would sleep.

I would smile. I would dance.

I would love. I would live.

If only living could get some respite…..

If only I could get some respite…..