About

Artful dodger

 

A quick walk-through was all I asked for –

quick, and detached – an easy dalliance –

for information, exclamation, some artful

decoration – then to recount it in a poetic

fashion – that was how I had planned it –

a walk through life. But like all other best

laid plans this too went its way – it turned

personal – life came too close for comfort

I could see the cracked skin, smell the bad

smell – then I saw I was in the thick of life

and could see its flaws clearly, clearly. The

days unnerved me – the nights embraced

daytime confusions and gave them earth

hues and wild feathers the geese had left

fluttering in air as they flew southwards.

That is how the geese came to own a part

of my life. They were happy to grasp it in

their soaring beaks, twirl it playfully, roll it

around so I went dizzy and finally one day

they put it back on earth, close to where I

sat in the grass with tears in my eyes. And

then I saw life with feathers – and wings.