THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS SELECTED IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST.
It's been some lively yesteryears
Since I met my love-lyric
Two tiny angels blessed our lives
As our love-story turned epic!
But not so simple should it seem
To one who happens reading this
Fruitful rewards need stern efforts
And that is how this love-life is!
A lonesome, handsome somebody
I think I was, some point in time
A vibrant, fragrant flower was she…
Blooming in her youthful prime
Our feelings struck a rhythm divine
Thanks to our planets and stars
But Venus was her preferred home
While I belonged to Mars!
A minor celestial rearrangement
Of tempers and temperaments galore
A little adjustment here and there
And we loved even more!
Love bore fruit in the loveliest way
An angel personified!
The apple of my eye indeed
My moment of fatherly pride!
And the fragrant flower that was her
Became Mother Nature herself
To bear and rear her treasured fruit
And raise her miniature self
While here was clumsy me instead
Balancing work and life
Servant to humanity, son to parents
And husband to my wife
Many a big, fat book I'd read
Oft managed a dreaded disease
But oh, this new-found tiny-tot
Was beyond my expertise!
But look at her, just cruising along
Through work, and house and kid
And friends and kith-and-kins all
Much more than I ever did
Time flew fast and angel grew
Cuter and naughtier by the day
Through smiles or pranks or otherwise
She would have her way!
Until of course we found a route
To magnify our world
As another angelic presence formed
And destiny unfurled…
New joys galore she brought to us
And relief from a testing time
Her tiny, yet wholesome form perfect
Her ethereal beauty sublime!
So soft and sweet her charming self
So tranquil is her sound
An experienced father is how I feel
With my second child around
And so, she grows too, so do us
In this journey of family-life
And grows along our story of love
Of daughters, man and wife!
I marvel at these big-small girls
Of different shapes and sizes
Who hold me in their loving fold
With sweet, naughty surprises!
I look again at my dear self
And can't hold back a grin
I thank the Lord for who I am
And the kind of life I'm in...
An agreeing husband, obedient father
With things in near-perfect sync
As I lay floating, an island of blue
In a sea that's coloured pink!