On a 16th Floor Balcony!


Wistfully, she leaned

On the balustrade

16 storeys high

Braving her fear

Of heights

And the Madras Sun.


Mesmerised

By the ever busy waters  

She watched

The Bay of Bengal

Capriciously change

Its colours from time to time.


She’d lived a lifetime in Madras

Yet never tired of the sea

It beckoned her always

Often relentlessly:

“Come, come with me

To magical shores!”


She stood there

Unmindful of

The sun above

The vultures around

And inside,

Beseeching grandchildren.


Wondering…

If I could walk down

Just 16 flights of stairs,

Could I walk the ocean floor?

Under the waters of the Bay?

To shores far away?


And she allowed

A solitary, salty tear

To make its desperate way 

Down her cheek

Hoping to meet the sea

Down below.