Thursday, 19 December 2013


      A Moment Remembered
                        
The wonderful toys receded away
The child moved on with insatiable hunger
In his eyes, following the parsimonious parents
I was following him, keeping a sharp lookout
Without his knowledge of course
Until he lost trace of his parents
In that teeming hundreds of the village fair

Aw look at his panic stricken face
Oh how he is grieving his loss
Of the greatest gifts of God, his parents

‘Ma’m, the village is so small
He’ll find his parents’…say my pupils
Snapping my reverie…….’of course he will,
Mulk Raj Anand’s Lost Child’* I answer


And become a lost child myself
My heart secretly mourning
 For my father, in the classroom…..



*Mulk Raj Anand was a renowned author and critic of India. Most of his stories are based on the life of the toiling masses of India. Lost Child is a short story included in the English syllabus of secondary education in West Bengal.
Posted for Poetry Jam, Poetry Pantry @ PU & Real Toads 
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16 comments:

  1. Brian Miller19 December 2013 at 03:53

    nice...will have to look it up and see if i can read lost child....the loss of parents is so hard as well....my wifes mom died a couple years ago and...yeah i understand that....smiles.

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  2. Mary19 December 2013 at 06:49

    A very poignant poem here. (And an interesting story to look for.) It is hard to lose one's parents...whether one is young or older when it happens.

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  3. Anonymous19 December 2013 at 07:06

    I have read that story. Your experience with the reading and your emotions make it a very sentimental piece. Tenderly penned.
    -HA

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  4. Laurie Kolp19 December 2013 at 10:23

    This touched my heart.

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  5. Eileen T O'Neill .....19 December 2013 at 11:57

    Sumana,

    Thank you for sharing this experience and the background details. So realistic and viable in many places today...
    Best wishes,
    Eileen

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  6. Pealogic19 December 2013 at 12:48

    I shall check out the "lost child" when I get a minute

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  7. Claudia19 December 2013 at 13:26

    i never heard about "lost child" but need to check it out... i lost my dad when i was seventeen...so...getting this..

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  8. Susan19 December 2013 at 14:05

    I like a reading about reading and how empathy works. Our students need to see this in us.

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  9. Kay L. Davies19 December 2013 at 14:23

    Heartbreakingly vivid. It makes me want to find the child and hold him, keep him safe.
    K

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  10. Kay L. Davies19 December 2013 at 14:25

    PS
    My heart sank when I got an error message saying my comment was lost, but it suggested refreshing the page, and voila, unlike the child, my comment wasn't lost.
    K

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  11. Gabriella19 December 2013 at 14:58

    I like how you tie the author's story with your own in the last stanza! Very emotional Sumana!

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  12. Peggy19 December 2013 at 16:04

    Beautifully written and even though I am unfamiliar with the story you convey the feelings very well. Thanks for posting this.

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  13. Susie Clevenger19 December 2013 at 19:41

    Such sadness in this...beautifully written.

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  14. Intelliblog19 December 2013 at 21:26

    I think most of us can remember a time in our childhood where we thought we were lost in a place full of strangers...
    Your poem captures this very well and you show great restraint in the way you have written it, making it all the more effective.

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  15. kaykuala20 December 2013 at 02:58

    Losing our parents will make us a lost child. That is true Sumana! Wonderful one!

    Hank

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  16. Unknown20 December 2013 at 14:15

    I remember that fear when my kids were little that I would lose them in a crowd! Your last stanza - the sadness, so sorry for your loss.

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