A Penny

A penny I saw abandoned on my path,

A penny of no worth to me.

The penny I walked past without a second glance

But doubled up at a scream of glee.

I wheeled around in my spot

On hearing a little girl’s delighted cry

And my eyes were wide in surprise

For the valueless penny was the reason why.

Her eyes gleaming, her hands trembling,

She snatched it from the ground.

And, sprinted to her little brother

Teaching a lesson without uttering a sound.

Appreciate your possessions.

Trivial though they may seem.

For in the eyes of another, they are the world.

Cherish them, adore, esteem!

Somewhere in that Lane. . .

Somewhere in that lane,

Lives my childhood friend.

We’ve lost touch over the years

For we’ve our own lives to tend.

As I pass her lane quietly,

Happy memories flood in,

I want to visit her

But lack of time holds me in.

I carry on to my workplace

 mentally deciding to give her call.

But I get bewitched by life again

And eventually forget it all.

On a Sunday, cosy on the couch,

I skim through my friends’ list.

I stop at her phone number

But arrogance entraps me in a cyst.

She can call too,

I stonily mumble.

She has my number

AND my address, I grumble.

One fine day news reaches me,

“Your childhood friend lives no more.”

Of her chronic illness I learn

And the shock shakes my very core.

My stony heart now cries for her,

My cheeks burn with self hate.

When I could, I didn’t care

And now it’s too late.

Somewhere in that lane,

Lived my childhood friend.
Now I lay in remorseful darkness
with my ego to amend.