Thirty Years Before
Thirty years ago, I was only twenty two,
A man in the making, life was pretty cool.
I had a friend who died, she was always by my side
Over a beer or two we had nothing much to hide.
She was just seventeen and you know what I mean,
She took all my perfume and left her scent on me.
With love she used to say that stars don’t go away,
They shine by the night but never show up in the day.
We drank all through the night, once, counting the stars bright,
Then we slept like logs and took two days to get upright.
Her voice was a melody I’ve ever heard, so sweet,
She was a drop of honey and I was her humming bee.
I liked her sparkling eyes that made the world before go dim,
She liked my ‘Adam’s apple’, now inside a ‘double chin’.
Last night in the terrace I saw a twinkling smile,
One more than the usual five above the west of the landing sky.
I stared at the star for a while and recalled all the glee,
I’m sure this isn’t new, it wasn’t just a star but ‘she’.
I lost all the lines of the songs, I never wrote,
She’s far from me, a million miles away but so close.
Now I realize that she is eternally mine to see,
She’s very much alive but the ‘dead and gone’ is me.
Thirty years ago, I was only twenty two,
As I walked behind the bus I missed, now I’m fifty two.
Srirangam Ramesh