(for CLM)
O for a romp
down
Memory Lane
where we
drank
sweet coke
but took
our
coffee plain
where ennui
was about
the only bane
‘
Where a shrink
or a pill
lulled
every pain
where Guilt
was
allowed
even Shame
was legit
where failure
we owned
and to be
sorry admit
.
Where to aim
too high
was never
a dare
and betrayal
by one’s
own
only rarely
a scare
*
O for a
stroll down
memory lane
where we
watched
Hitchcock
munched on
candy cane
where the
air
hung clear
the Spirit
flew high
and the sun
shone
through
why
even in
rain
*
But then It
All
changed
and the
needle
swung wild
rules were
not
rules
to break
them
no stain
.
We passed all
posts
breached all
due norms
and history
got morphed
into
legerdemain
*
O for a
run back
on memory lane
doing it
for fun
not
merely
for gain
.
In intuitions
archival
dry reason
disdain
where
if ignorance
loomed large
penitence
was true
and the line
we drew
sharp
‘twixt
sane
and insane
.
O for a
slide down
Memory Lane
where love
was
just enough
to writhe
blissful
in pain
than gross
sins
of our kind
cleft deep
against
the grain
*
O to let go
of memory
lane
where what
is
lost is lost
and to
dotingly
linger
is hopelessly
vain
.
And so
to return
to our own
sordid
time
where the
heart
is hung heavy
O so very
heavy
yes, the
heart
is hung heavy
for the
fever
in the brain
.
[© R.Kanth 2020/25]
Professor Rajani Kanth, is Author of Coda, A Day in the Life, Expiations, and Farewell to Modernism</em>