Smoky Clouds of Remembrance

A real look of love on that face is divine –

For it is my poetry and

Too independent for my efforts;

For it gets absorbed in my cells;

For nothing else,

However beauteous,

Can delight me so well.

It’s been a long time

Since I loved someone –

Since I first saw her.

And I do not know

If the Earth has ever created

Another beauty.

Anyway, not once, not twice –

I am sure –

But several times,

She too has loved me.

But good is good

And will ever be.

Ah, no more my good one

Is between me and none,

A compassionate glance

Still makes my heart dance.

My love, my soul,

My cherished hope,

You elude me, do you?

Though I have none in lieu,

Of looking for you I still relish the challenge

In those smoky clouds of remembrance.

-Ramesh Tiwari