I
In the wilderness of my life I set out,
With no special aim on a meandering path,
Wandering in the woods, and meadows,
Climbing through the crevices of mighty rocks.
II
I stumbled upon a grave, hastily made with rocks;
With neither markings nor a name, the whose remains
Lay buried beneath the ground; could be of a soldier brave.
Fallen in a faraway land in a forgotten war of the years gone.
III
Resting beside the dead in the ground, soon I fell asleep
Like the stupor of poet, Coleridge, that gave us Kubla Khan.
I picked the voices emanating from the rocks on the grave.
Beneath ground where maggots and the worms creep.
IV
A distinct sound that was familiar to my ear came,
My Lord; it's my name I just knew, it indeed was.
Who is buried here that has come from my past?
Frightened, I cried, never been here in this land.
V
Gathering courage, my curiosity got better of fear,
I put my ear to the ground, moaning in pain, it called
My full name and said; free me now I beg my dear,
I must make my peace with you or lay forever, here.
VI
Who are you and how do you know my name?
What is it that you did that put you here or
Is this a dream that the cannabis I smoked?
Speak up, before I am awake- end of game.
VII
What is that buried for the years and yet alive?
No mortal I know, nor heard before, that lies below
And yet speaks as if never been dead, but confined.
Such a ghastly deed if you know what I mean.
VIII
"I am your love; one that you worshipped; day and night.
In the youthful days of ten springs gone, when flowers bloomed,
Like your heart that swelled, passion ruled when I let you kiss.
I led you to that land of romance and oblivion of your world."
IX
Oh! Is that you, who said, came from the far away Xanadu-
Where magic rules? You played on the lute haunting songs.
I lived with you in that mountain cave, up above the clouds,
Time had disappeared, only the river of mirth and joy flowed.
X
Then on one fateful day, all disappeared, you were gone.
Without the tress, without a good bye, like mortals would.
You shattered my world, trampled upon my heart and left words;
"I am bored with you; need a new game like the Psyche played."
XI
Distraught, for months and end, in search of your place,
I wandered in the valleys and forests climbed the mountains.
To find the cave in which you whispered in my ears, 'I love you.'
We meet when my life but has passed its prime and you're dead.
XII
You ask me to resurrect you now, when love has lost meaning.
Northern wind set the frost on the flowers, for me to mourn.
Is there a prudent course when you are in your grave and
I am pushing my days to the ultimate vault; a walking corpse."
XIII
I looked in my feeble heart, is there a dying ember that would
Rekindle the love for that nymph who came in life and gone.
Hope has her ways; she fans the fire and the fluttering heart
Momentarily goes wild. 'All smoke and mirror or is it real?' I ask.
X IV
Hesitant indeed, to nurse the dying to life, one that was hidden;
Seemingly discarded, trashed those memories of love forgotten.
Then the prudence dictated sternly- Leave the buried past; move on.
Nothing but burden of your youth you will get, should you carry on.
X V
Bewilder self, watching the dueling of hope and the alter ego,
To whom should I surrender when the sun soon will set on life?
Hope, that ever-young maiden, urges to run when one can't walk.
Prudence; the grand master of reasons, says, you must not.
XVI
Human folly, or the strength of Hope; the prudence fails.
I remove the rocks and soil, opens the coffin of dying love.
In she lay with her weathered visage and ravaged form,
Her lifeless eyes, beseeching forgiveness and I fall.
XVII
I take her with me to my hut and begin the healing;
In vain, I feed her with the love songs of our days,
Read her from the romantic novels and favorite plays.
Dress her up; arrange the hair, adorning flowers.
XVIII
Try every trick that the Cupid's book of romance penned.
She responded to all that for a moment or two but relapsed,
Life's ordained path passes through the mortality of flesh.
What once was, it remains in the past; nothing reverses that.
XIX
Merciful is the final chapter of our book of life and it ends.
Good and bad, joys and pains and the memories of all
Death takes away love, hate and anger just the way
Sea swallows the castles built on the beach with sand.
X X
In my arms, with a spark in her eyes, love breathed her last
The joy of knowing, that, once what was wronged, in the end
Forgiven and forgotten as it mended the two broken hearts.
A lesson for all- Indeed, 'Love is a many splendid things'.