Poetry

By

Sunil Sharma

To a mother dear

Dear Ma

In the creases of your shrunk forehead

The slight tremors of bony hands

I find a personal saga of great courage

And unsung heroism.

You are motherhood epitomized.

Those tough years of widowhood

The silent tears

The daily chores, morning-night

The work pressures

Then the kitchen work of a life time

The bitterness of certain experiences

The overcoming of odds of a hard existence

The struggles against poverty that threatened

Your loving devotion to a youngest kid declared

A total failure by a callous system that

Recognizes marks and degrees by rote

And doctors and engineers only.

Some forty years ago

A poor child stood before you that failed to meet

Such cultural expectations but

You never showed disappointment in me

And always kept on smiling—still do at the age of 91

Your love and faith made me plod on

Your wrinkles are lyrics fashioned in the forge of time

Inspiring me to go on, despite being ordinary.

Life!

You said once

It is not about winning always or being wealthy

But, about being a good human being!

Sunil Sharma

Mumbai-based, Sunil Sharma is a widely-published writer. He has already published  14 books: four collections of poetry, two of short fiction, one novel, one a critical study of the novel and co-edited six anthologies on prose, poetry and criticism. He is a recipient of the UK-based Destiny Poets’ inaugural Poet of the Year award—2012. Recently his poems were published in the UN project: Happiness: The Delight-Tree.