At one time it was my favourite colour.
Chocolates too.
The colour is now back again
though taste buds wear a senile coat.
Some rainbow colours took their turn
I forgot the sun behind the clouds.
With a beard like a cat’s coat
I’m learning to enjoy inconsequential
useful things;
my highbrow mind is mellowed now
to tolerate and even like
the things that simple folks enjoy.
Polythene bags in ponds compose
a parody of lotuses.
My furniture looks like
an acid attack survivor.
The sun moves clockwise
to the west.
We can still see cloudy kohl
in the soft blue above
scintillating happy zones;
the late monsoon showers
lighter and whiter
wrapped in silver.
August is ‘Varta’ webzine’s birthday month. This poem has been chosen to mark the month (among other activities to be reported on in the coming months) because birthdays need not be seen only within the binary of merrymaking and sadness around ageing. They should also be about reflecting on the changing colours of life and embracing them as part of living on – Editor.
Photo credit: Maria Slama on Unsplash
