Lost

Alone, alone I walk each mile,

No one to look up at and smile

No one has the will to care

Here, true emotions are so rare

Men in this town have no left time

Wealth seems their only reason and rhyme

All day they jostle and shout and honk

And then for clemency they seek out a priest a monk

The sky is dark, there’s smoke everywhere

The air and the soil smell of rotten despair

Every tear drops with a deafening shout,

But no soothing hand helps wipe it out.

Each word goes into mirrored ears.

They nod and smile but no one hears

O’ how I miss my dear homeland

The sea, the wind, the sun, the sand

Where a smile adorned each single face

And life was a joy, not just a race

Where the air smelled of roses and pears

And the birds chimed, lilting laughter everywhere

Where God was seen in every being

And life and prayer had so much more meaning

Lost am I, oh lost, in this forsaken town

Where the only thing permanent is a frown

They say I am not the first to feel alone

With time, I too will become a money minded drone

And get absorbed in the clamoring distress

Forever forgetting my homeland’s sweet caress

** This was written as part of an exercise on the topic of writing Diaspora at Write Club Bangalore