By the Orchard

a poem by Nipun Sareen

A waft rushes into my face,
and brings about the deluge in my eyes,
Blinding me, and making me grasp for the hand
that I once held and ran across the ages with
An era has ended it seems,
Today I am too scared to even walk.

Nothings changed for the naked eye,
for the one that belongs to a scarred heart;
nothings the same.

I have been here before, a million times
I have sat at the same spot and have looked around
but never before could I envision what I see today
The cloud punctuated skyline was never so expressive,
I never knew their patterns had so much to say.

The trees around must be centuries old,
and never before had I any doubts over their proximity
today though evident between two pines is the void.

The hand feel the same in the grass’ dew
nothing could make them more or less clammy
albeit this time the eyes are moist too.

Everything’s changed
Everything’s the same
Nothings the same for the naked eye
For the one that belongs to the scarred heart;
Nothings the same.

Change.
What has changed?
Near or far the trees are still there
The grass is still damp, the sky is still blue.
The birds in the wild still chirp and greet,
though now they sound more like a scream.

I ask myself,
what has changed?
Like a wisp I hear a voice,
The time has changed, the tide has turned,
they were in your favour then,
they are against you now.