O Lord !

O Lord! what in me is dark, fill thou with light!

Cleanse my heart of every stain and wash it white!

Nor weatlh nor greatness, I do not ask for fame;

Grant me, O Lord! the gift of the holy name!

Sanjay Dhar

Laxmi Nagar, Sarwal, Jammu

FAR FROM THIS PLACE SO STRANGE

A change of habitat

Is like cold air over feet tucked in a blanket

It is a childhood friendship forgotten

And new wounds unstitched

It’s separation and broken promises,

And dreams finding a new stream.

A cruel joke placed on me,

I am a sad girl who has been cheated upon

Told that world wasn’t white anymore

And when my heart was still where I used to be

I tied my hair in two braids and danced in unfamiliar places

I missed my mother’s belly, My first Home,

Where I was protected from every storm.

The hilt of knife fit in my hands

I held on to it like my savior

For in this unknown world I’ve been put,

I’d rather pass away to someplace far,

Far from here.

Sumedha Manhas

Bahu Apartments, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.

Mothers never grow old

That old house of village

Which was once built

With the sweat of my body.

Some wounds have appeared on its walls.

Looking not same old tidy.

That father who was

the crown of the house

Who with his iron like arms

Would tear the earth’s heart and plough fields.

Is facing difficulty

even to chew the food.

Too early life has become rude.

That brother who

jumped from house to house

To catch the kite.

Who Never feared to take a fight.

Now he can’t put much pressure on his knees.

In a flick the youth has fled.

That sister who

used to play with her friends.

Now hardly any message she sends.

Today is buried under the

Responsibilities of household.

Life takes turns so many folds.

That tree in the courtyard

Whose fruits we nourish.

Today its roots are also infested with termites.

It also stopped to flourish.

It was only the mother

Who never grew old

Who never looked for her own self.

Never fainted and felt cold.

Her kitchen still the same.

Sitting on the stove

Serving food with the same love.

She is the only one who

never gets tired.

She is one, who resembles lord.

Responsibilities never let

mother grow old.

Jagdish Raj

Senior Manager

PNB