The Long Wait

Endeavoring to arrest their journey near road,
He hastens towards each passerby,
Those who proceed near by his place of repose,
Beside the boulevard ,armed with his digging implements,
He adheres to his post as part of his daily regimen,
Faint reminiscences of his son flit through his consciousness,
The boy, no stranger to deprivation, forsakes his schooling,
Shoes and uniforms are unreachable utopias for him,
At dawn, his wife abstains the day’s first nourishment,
She lulled their children to sleep without sustenance,
The night prior withholds as the dawn’s culinary greeting,
Refraining from ritual of morning repast he steps outside,
The youngest son, two seasons sickened by fever’s serpent,
His aged mother awaits his promised care,
His young daughter’s pleas claim his attention,
Diverting his own texture to captivate onlookers,
Moves tirelessly under the yoke of necessity,
Today, no one seeks his toil to meet his own ends,
Burdened with fatigue, succumbs to silent agony,
A mere spectator with an intent gaze observes,
Transients drift past, he pursues like a weary tide,
Their silence not exactly encouraging strengthens his resolve,
Reflections resound, rekindling hope’s halcyon hearth,
Daily duties heap higher, a Himalayan horizon,
The homeowner’s haunting hails hover heavy in his head,
Ephemeral echoes of emotion elude him, like liberated larks,
Yet, time’s tides tumultuously taunt his tenacity,
The sun now blazes with relentless intensity,
His calloused feet anchor him in interminable expectation.

Sajid Hussain from Pakistan ©