SHE WHO SMILED

 Rustling branches, falling yellow leaves,

A road caked with brown crisps,

Dry air, distressed breeze

 

Lips capable of uttering,

Only complains,

‘ Why live? Why die?

Complete nuisance life is!’

 

Life on ‘ Elims’, the village,

Was as dead as one could be,

Lost was every mind,

Shattered very deep

 

With drought and famine,

Greeting each year to come,

Man had no hope,

Life being a misery, a glum

 

One night, thunder struck,

They all felt joy, but feared too,

An eternity it had been,

That they lived a life in monsoon

 

Dissatisfied, as ever,

Retired every soul,

Unsure of what,

 The heavenly waters would unfurl

 

In the belief of the many,

There was a doubt of worry,

Rain they craved, but Oh!

Chaotic minds!

Conclusions were made in a hurry

 

The so called wise men said,

‘ No one knows what the drops would bring,

Future is unpredictable, the inevitable is arousing’

 

Change, all feared,

And now they feared it more,

So many years had passed by,

Clouds had, yet, become a rare sight!

 

Inside the hut of a hunter-man,

With meagre hopes, stared he at his wife,

She cried in pain, accompanying the grumble,

Grumble that precedes the rain

 

For her belly was protruding out,

As she yelled for mercy in pain,

The beginning of new life,

Soon to begin!

 

As the downpour of crystal clear water,

Showered upon the earth of ‘ Elims’,

The villagers gathered in a chatter,

Outside the hut of mud, their hopes grim

 

Seconds rushed into minutes,

And minutes into hours,

Unnoticed were left, the heavenly showers

All eyes glanced beside the hunter lady’s bed

Where now a newborn lay!

 

What she did, surprised all,

Quiet unsure they were,

To what it was, after all!

 

She widened her lips into a “O”,

It showed her red gums,

Dimples on both sides of her cheeks,

‘ She smiled,’ a wise man claimed!

 

No one knew what it was,

But liked it, anyway,

So they mimicked her,

Doing what they never did

Or putting it the other way,

What they forgot the village meant,

When spelt the other way round!

 

“ She smiled,” the village chorused,

So they all smiled, and the wise men now,

Named her ‘ Elims,’ girl of the village!

You dare not spell it the other way round!

 

Life continued on Elims,

Monotonous as it always was,

Soon all forgot what they did the night,

‘ Elims,’ the girl of the village, was born…

If you ever happen to visit this place,

Don’t forget to ask who “ Elims” is,

For you are sure to get an answer,

‘ Elims is she who smiled!’

The irony being, no one would know what it actually meant!

                                                                                   ~ KS