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On Leaving Home
I want to be back, I want to go back
Wish this train could reverse its track!
But, now I am miles away
Just as this earth is from the stars
I am goinf away, I know, I can’t be home – right now
But, if only once I get home, I’ll never ever leave- I know.
Not for more than a day, I feel good at this place
Every evening, on the terrace, I stand and gaze,
At the sky and wonder why
This is the same sky that canopies my home
Still, why is it that I don’t feel this place as my own?
I’d prefer being upbraided there
Than befriended here
Because even in the rebuke, there is love
Care and affection clear
Here, all appear to be kind and amicable
But, this is more affectation, it is noticeable
Not one, I can call my own
No other place, I can feel at home
God, I pray, make me a sparrow
Or a swallow or even a crow
Anything, so that I could fly
And be back home.
-Puja Bala
1998