| THE HOMECOMING |
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In every city I visit, in every cathedral or mosque pagoda or temple, gurudwara or synagogue; in every space enroute to my self-discovery, I light a candle, offer a prayer With every prayer, I wish for things - some material, others not so tangible, for myself or for others I have loved more than you. All through the hours of my worship, I converse with you about my family and friends, whom you have gifted to me. I don't know why I presume you will listen more carefully to my entreaties in a foreign land. I am the one on holiday, not you. I share my thoughts with you hoping that in the end you will talk to me, directly; not through your silence. I know you love me, for sometimes you respond to the smallest desire of mine. How can I forget that it was you who taught me to accept my need of you? I pray to recall our state of bliss before I was born, before I demanded my own life, seperate from you. I try my best to remember but memory plays tricks with me. If you got hurt, you never showed me. Instead you loved me constantly; kept watch over me as I lived and got hurt. How was I to know in advance the consequences of my deeds? My loneliness has brought me back to where I had begun. I have nowhere else to go; don't let me turn away again on another journey of self discovery for I am already done. |
| Shanta Acharya was born in Cuttack, Orissa, India. She was a lecturer in English at Ravenshaw College, Utkal University 1975-79. She works as an Investment Manager in the City of London. Her study, "The Influence of Indian Thought on Ralph Waldo Emerson", was published by The Edwin Mellen Press, USA, 2001. Her poetry collections are "Not This, Not That" (Rupa, India 1994) and "Numbering Our Days' Illusions" (Rockingham Press, UK 1995). She has a website at http://www.shantaacharya.com/ |
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Poem © Shanta Acharya, 1999 Web design by Gerald England This page last updated: 25th April 2003. |