Poems by
Aparna Gopalakrishnan

Tryst with Destiny

a poem by Aparna Gopalakrishnan

Slowly the old legs climbed to the attic
Treasures and mold, that old toy and that single mitten
Amidst all the clutter and the old clock’s tick
Hoping to remain as her broom did threaten

In lost thought she swept past
Mindless worries and bills to pay
Till her eyes met her past
Her past that peeped from the trunk on the way

To a time long ago, when her eyes were kinder
And her laughter rippled across
Time to her had then been kinder
Her mind travelled to that time far across

Frenzied hands worked on the trunk,vying to unlock
And within, The pretty red dress that stole all eyes
The paintings she drew, of mountains and sheepflock
Then on a sheaf of letters that lit her eyes

With a gush of feeling, the letters she clasped
To her bosom she held them dear,
Her first love he was, and in his memories she gasped
Those time when she loved and lost without fear.

His childish scrawls declaring love undying, behoten
Now remained in yellowing tatters; This love had aged
Those oaths forgotten still remain unforgotten
A tear, at the corner of the eye, a war waged

A call was heard from the floors below
It was The man who to her swore ” I do”
Some trifle of a thing he couldn’t find below
For without her, he knew not whatever to do

A smile curled up at her lips, love had her conned
The love that was,might have been
But the love that is, to her beckoned
Beckoned to her with love from which she could never wean

The sheaf of letters lay on the floor, from her separated
A thud of footsteps resounded as she ran to destiny
Destiny waited downstairs, without her,exasperated
In an embrace, she hugged him… happy with destiny.