Banu's Song

My child

One day you will be born

And we will bring you home

And tell you about life

We will speak of music and the arts

We will take you on trips

We will introduce you to books                               

And we will be your best friends

As you grow older and start to make friends

Most of whom will be exceptional

Because no two human beings are alike

Some will leave you after a short time

Others will stand by you until the end

One day, you will fall in love and marry

And have a life of your own

When that happens I ask of you one thing

And one thing only

Do not forget us

The first friends you made

One day we will leave you

And go I know not where

When that time comes

Forgive the wrong that we've done

Miss us a little

Talk of us to your children

(Whom we can't wait to meet)

Until that time comes my child

All I can do is write about you

And the good times we will have

And these words will wait

As will I

For your arrival

Which is neither near nor far

The Bilge Master

In My Black and White World

People said I'm crazy

'Coz I didn't talk like they do

Calling me insane was their second-favorite thing to do

Wherever I've roamed

This opinion has followed

Until I met someone like you

You are a tempest tossed silence

You are a warm summer afternoon in May

You are friends I will never forget

Because in my black and white world

You

Are the only colours

I will ever need

The Bilge Master

The Street Urchin

I saw a street urchin on the road today

Playing with a broken stick and a tyre

And I thought

How simple her world was

Not for her the mysteries of science

Nor the symphonies of Mozart

Not for her the halls of stone

We read about in books

To her our world is complex

She will never have a Facebook account

An d will be married off at sixteen

I will wake each day and go to office

Whilst she lives and loves

Stricken with poverty

Not for her the promise of education

Nor a world beyond the tea stall

Not for her lavish birthday parties

I return home at night with her on my mind

And I wonder

How we live in the same world

With worlds within

Each so starkly different from each other

The Bilge Master