i lazily turn the pages -

 

it is the concise English dictionary ;

 

the last page says "550 sir ! " in mini voice ;

 

i make a measure of me -

 

would i have garnered words worth

 

at least 50 pages' space

 

in all these 50 years

 

of my international-marriage

 

to this bride from foreign shores ?

 

strongly doubt even this humble measure !

 

do i know the full depth and width and confident ride

 

of each word within this beggarly ambit ?

 

again a giant 'no ' with a drooping head !

 

what courage then have i

 

to express my thoughts --

 

that bloom with all fluorescence and fragrance

 

in the poetic gardens of my native tongue --

 

in this poorly acquired overseas skill ?

 

yet i do ,hoping some forbearing souls

 

beyond the roaring seas and mighty mountains

 

would tune their sensitive ears

 

to the central throbs of this heaving heart !

 

 

 

----s.chandra kalaadhar