Anniversary

A soft knock... hard knuckles
Who is at this hour?

Wait , my loaded mind

one more year is put on the pile

faithful time loads its bricks

comes like a midnight guest

to pack my years

with restless nothings.

Years come rolled out

like carpets of designed fear

no time to sit or walk

to appreciate the artwork

makes one run to a doc

for a piece of prescription

of pills and tonics like

love lyrics to a cripple.

Anniversaries increase

the quota of pills and doses

we wake up with pills

sleep with tablets of dreams

rise again to be peeled and patched.

Yes, this is  what I am

what you are or will be

knocked out by time’s yearly push.

Life is time’s arithmetic

count as many as they come,

adding futility to your dreams

fly soar shine and fall

time will gather you again

with a number on your chest.

Sabita Sahu