Silent lies the night

(2001)

Silent lies the night,
Like the deceased's shroud;
The wind brushes by,
Like the cold caress of mortality.
Slumber reigns in every household;
The voice of life has subsided.
But, I stay on my lonely vigil-
Accompanied by the stars,
Accompanied by my solitude
And my thoughts
And my happiness, my tears,
My hopes, my despair,
My courage, and my fears.

Lying under the canopy
Of the great, wide, unending sky,
My thoughts turn into a kaleidoscope
Of emotions, of events,
Of faces, of voices,
Of jovial days and ruthless nights;
My life as a vast unending sequence
That bridges yesterday and tomorrow.
Where did it go-
All that I loved?
Where did it fly-
All that I dreamt?
And when did it happen, how-
That I became what I had not been?

The night does not respond
To any of these queries;
It just stretches on
Into a vast area of darkness,
It just dulls
The blazing despair of the day;
It does not fill
The deep void within.

The last dying embers of the household lights
Burn out, one by one-
Leaving me on my silent vigil,
Accompanied only by the stars
And the cold wind
And the anticipation of another lonely night.