Hope Never Dies

The old lady is sitting on the road alone
Watching people go by
They carry with them bags of memories
Of pain n laughter and a time, that will never die.

Strangers carrying hopes and dreams
Some long forgotten, some still lingering within
Some looking forward to a bright future
And for some even today is grim.

There comes a little boy
His toy is broken, his eyes have tears
His childhood was locked in a dark room
Where there seemed no one to calm his fears.

A young girl comes insight
Not as beautiful as the ones, she follows
Though her beauty is innocent
Seems like the society sent her soul to the gallows.

Frustration is what the man is carrying
Of a broken home ,Neglected kids
And a mind that has strayed
The ground he dug to built his house
Has now become a cemetery for his grave.

A woman walks behind him
She's draped in loneliness, sorrows n regrets
Her life has been a nightmare
And the memory multiplies, the harder she tries to forget.

A walking stick as the only support
Is an old man, walking step by step
His children have disowned him now
After 60 years in his home, with unconditional love them he kept.

They all walk upto the old woman
N ask what she does waiting on the road
Is she waiting for someone who never came?
And listen to the words she repeatedly told.

Questions for all of you
Is what my little old heart has
Answer them to yourselves 
N realize how light your mind will feel, after I've asked.

Don’t you have love in your life?
Or what you have is not enough?
Haven't there been smoother times?
Has the journey been always rough?

Have you not dreams to live for?
Has the past killed the future for you?
Don’t you have smiles to remember?
Or friendships that were rare and true?

Haven't you made someone's day?
Or with a touch, lessened another's grief?
Hasn’t your presence made a difference?
Or your silence comforted, when no one wanted to speak?

Have never you been out of your way?
For that little something, that meant a lot?
Didn’t you ever cry in somebody else's pain?
Or eased a mind, which like yours had clot?

If yes is your answer
To any of the questions above
It is for me to know and for you to realize
Apart from the worldly, you're blessed with god's love.

Remember, god never bestows upon us
Problems which we wouldn’t be able to solve
God trips us on the way up
So we learn to stand, after we fall.

Let hope, prayers and faith
Be in your life the guiding light
Be grateful for what you have
N not regret n long for, something which isn't insight

Be guided with your heart
Be earnest when you pray and look upto the skies
Circumstances may make you weak
But strength is in believing, hope never dies.

 
(c) Supriya Gupta
New Delhi, India
February 23, 2001