Don't

I pull out my stuff from the rack
Though all I wish is to unpack
Run from my duty, I won’t
Yet, for this, my heart says – “Don’t”

Far is the place I once called home
Far had my dreams made me roam
Far is the home that had made me
Far from the home I made for me

I always went to him with dreams
Hoping for a shoulder to lean
I learnt soon that it was in vain
As all he said was – “Don’t”

I resolved then, I would prove myself
And see that he agrees himself
That though everyone’s against me
There is nothing that can stop me

I ran ahead at double speed
Stumbling at bumps I missed
As I fell, I saw his haughty smile
And gathered back my pace

Now I see him, frail and old
My eyes fill as he’s counting days
But, as he looks at me, he says
“Don’t” – with the smile back on his face

For wounds, of youth, still so raw
That smile was the final straw
I had to now make him hear
While he was still, to me, near

“You told me to pursue not dreams
And smiled in my face as I fell
Though our ways were at extremes
Loved you I always have and will”

He straightens up on hearing me
Smiling as he draws strength
Little do I know this will be
My best memory of him

“I used to spend hours thinking
Of how to inspire you
Memorized speeches bit the dust
But for their first word – “Don’t”