Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Goodbye England!


Goodbye England!

Across the seven seas
You influenced my thoughts
Even as a little girl in school.


Slightly built,
The prim and proper Head Mistress, Miss Thompson
Taught me first what discipline means
To human life
That strives to achieve goals
Within a lifetime,
Begotten, only once, in His image.
(Although, I have changed my mind since)


The little fables from her England
Stayed with me, until
I caught the wind to arrive
To her homeland.


And oh! What beauty
Steeped in history, culture
Music and dance, sweet England is!
And laughter smiles on every lip
Despite a moody sky!


Dear, dear England
It is hard to say goodbye!
But this life I chose
To be among people
Who find a way to laugh
Despite the empty basket of food.
Where there is abundance
Not in coins
That jingles in pockets.
I wanted to know a path
That goes beyond the material
And control coexists with chaos.


My spirit had longed
For a land whose peoples
Would be hospitable and willing to share
Even the bare minimum they had.
I wanted to know a hot and humid
Weather that burns the skin
Causing emotions to erupt without control
I wanted a land that promises me
Life, after life
Rebirth and Enlightenment.


Hence, goodbye England!
Across the seven seas
I take with me
Memories of your cheerful and chatty people
Your green stretches of desolate land
Which speak volumes in their silence;
Your flowers that play gaily on canvas
To paint pictures I will treasure
For the rest of my days.


And if we meet not again
Know this; I have taken you in my heart
As I have left behind
A little bit of my self in yours.
In your children, who will grow up to be you!


Live on! Thrive, England!

©Julia Dutta, May 2014


This poem is dedicated to the memory of my aunt, Dr Pratima Konar who left her body on 16th May, 2014.


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