(Dedicated
to the moment of reading the poem, ‘Father to Son’ by Elizabeth Jennings, with
my dear students of Class XI Commerce)
---
Parthajit Ghosh
Tears thus be pearls
tell while the priceless talk
roll down mercury on cheeks;
the talk beyond all horizons,
the talk of love or pain or some untold
hidden deep at the treasure of soul
where father lies in all children –
a daughter or a son –
simply a child to a father,
a wonder of all gifts!
The lesson in holding his finger,
the steps to walk along;
the sweetest to all ears
across the big globe
while a baby starts saying,
for the first time, may be:
“pa-pa, pa-pa, pa-pa!”
The sweetest of all songs!
Commonest but unique of all,
the homecoming from his work,
the great event, elation and joy;
sacred lips find their grace with kisses
and smiles along with open arms,
inexplicable in words; perhaps
the canonization of the souls:
A father is no longer a common man!
Tears become rain when
showers from the cloud,
condensed like milk,
into the memory of childhood
or the early parenthood days
despite all the changes now
between a father and his broods.