A Birthday Poem

Softly I leave the roads I will not cross again.
In familiar lanes I’ve left behind a young boy
Who loves the strangest things: the smell of July rains,
The stillness of misty winter mornings, the sound
Of yellow leaves falling on wind-swept autumn days;

The world is beautiful, and there is not much time
For one who must follow the calling of his heart:
I may be one who’s destined to drift forever
Alone in these vast, ever-changing, maze of roads.
I grow old, but my love for this quest stays undimmed.

Wherever these wide roads may take me from here on,
A bit of all I have met shall remain with me
Like July rains and the perfect winter mornings.
You’re there too, with all the others who walked with me.
Though our paths have barely crossed, you’ll be in my heart.

Diptesh Chandra Ghosh