The childhood that I never had..

The childhood 

The pungent smell of the rain,

Drenches me in its nostalgic drizzle,

I am soaking in the faint memories,

of my childhood , that I never had.

Father's wake-up kiss, his warmth,

never breached the brim of his heart;

Was articulating love forbidden?

The ride on his bicycle to school

should've been the most joyous rides ever,

But, the child, that I never was,

struggled to feel the thrill.

Mother's love, packed in a lunch box,

was blatantly mild,

It satiated the hunger, yet

left, the child in me starving for love. 

Like the blooms,

whose fragrance is the

sweetest, 

is often shy and lonely, 

like the pain of a withered leaf,

the child in me often felt

The patter of raindrops , 

on an old tin roof,

reminds me of a phase

of being pristine and hopeful,

Yet the whip of the lightening,

left tears on my chubby cheeks

Though, the pungent scent of the rain,

took me down memory lane, 

the thunder and the storm in my life,

has put the child in me to sleep, 

forever.

Copyright  @ Ajay Pai 2016   | Image courtesy: AJ's personal collections

poem