Dear Mirror

Mirror mirror on the wall,

I think you don’t quite see it all

Silvered and salted hair I’d fain conceal

But my tender heart

Bydeeds I shall reveal.

Zeroing in on that extra inch or curve 

On the surface can’t you discern that steely nerve?

You dwell upon line and wrinkle

But don’t you miss the merry eyes that twinkle?

Never mind that double chin

There is a gentle woman hidden deep within

My jeans alas have gone three sizes larger

I don’t think I can stretch them any farther.

Mirror, dear mirror,

My sagging figure and face

I know too well have sadly fallen from grace

But underneath that drab and flab you see

Is a beautiful , warm and spirited me.

A daughter , a wife , a sister or a mother

To my parents, husband, children or brother

I bring to all I do the feminine touch

If not for me, their lives would lose so much.

One day at a time is all to which I aspire

In your esteem may I rise just a little higher?

Memory Lane

1.       Walking down memory lane,                                              

My heart wrenches in nostalgic pain,

At the thought it'll never, ever happen again.

My mind's eye sees flashes

Of faces and places long gone by...

Of classrooms and teachers;

Of ribbons and tiffins;

Of long, lazy summers and cosy, cuddled-up winters;

Of fairytale books and furtive looks;

Of junk food and pickles;

Of crushes and puppy love.

Of gully cricket;

Of being bitten by the chicken-pox bug;

Of lectures bunked and subjects, well,

- almost flunked

Of college picnics and movie tickets;

Of church choirs and sitting round the fire.

The voices, the choices, the favourite haunts

With friends I hung out with -

Once so near,

Now draw a wistful smile and

A bitter-sweet tear......