When Night Draws Near

 

By LALITA DEVI

 

When night draws near

And the sun goes chasing the red gold clouds

Beyond the bare: responsive skies,

My puissant desire, Imprisoned musk-like, unbought, unrelieved,

Leaps with proud rebellion

A spark from a menioried log-fire

And wakes up my lone lost hours of rest

From daylong ceaseless toil

To companion the gurgling glancing waters

Of dark, distant Krishna.

 

My frail body protesting in vain

Lies broken but undefeated

And longs for your bare brown body

For the comforting touch of your fingers,

Then your lips utter one silent word

Which spells magic for me

And raises the priceless vision

Of love, home and children……

 

When night draws near

Under the starry, beckoning skies

By the grey rock near the Krishna

Come, O lover, and quench my thirst.

 

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