Furry Friend
Innocence or
Carefree attitude
Some get it, some don’t
It’s not something you acquire
Or, learn gradually
When I stepped out
It was totally overcast
Drab, gloomy, soggy
You might say
It’s a rainy day – to put it simply
But as I ventured out
With a light umbrella
There I came across
A light brown jovial dog
Man’s best friend -
A Terrier perhaps
You got to see
Its sprightliness, playfulness
It stomped on the puddles
Rolled on the wet grass
Played to its heart’s content
On the muddy brown waters
The owner didn’t mind it either
There
In the drizzle, halting rain
We three
Enjoyed the outdoors
I could see my
Middle school days
Vividly on my mental screen
Then and there in the coastal
Village
We had distinct seasons
Six to count
Summer means just hot
Blistering scorching vertical
Rays with cool jasmine aroma filled
Nights and mangoes
Rainy season with downpours
Puddles, tanks with croaking frogs
Brown slippery muddy streets
Once we had a rainy day holiday
The distant pupils couldn’t make it
Treading wearily thro’ the slippery
Muddy farms’ edges
So
Mother asked me to go and study
At the tuition master’s house
Just less than a block down the lane
I rushed out in the drizzle
Weaving through the little puddles
And then slipped on the viscous mud
And fell again not once, but thrice
Every time soiling the clothes
Mom got annoyed
Got a little angry
“No, you aren’t going anywhere
In this rain. Stay home with underwear.”
She had so many dirty clothes -
Washing ‘em during monsoon
Isn’t an easy chore
I was housebound with nobody
To play, no fun to spend time
Those were the days
In the village
No radio, no TV, no cell phones
No PDA’s, no iPhone either
Confined to two rooms
With my sister and mom
What a marvelous rainy day!
I miss those days
I miss my sister and mother
I also miss our
Pure white Pomeranian
That would never miss
A dusting in the roadside dirt
After a thorough shampoo bath in the canal
But I am glad for those
Sweet memories
Couldn’t have asked for better parents
Or siblings – they all loved me dearly
Copyright 2023 by the author
