A Journey — Abnish Singh Chauhan

He loves
the lap of the Ganga,1
its waters a comfort to his soul,
but he could not stay
at its ghats2 that day.

On topping the college,
he made a journey to America,
leaving behind—
the sun-dappled paths,
the quiet shades of his village.

He was so engrossed
in his humdrum life,
he could not come back
when his father
took his final breath,
slipping away
from this world forever.

He sent money
for the last rites,
and it made
the talk of the village—
what was lost,
and what, in the end,
did anyone truly gain?

He earned a fortune,
gathered a crown of fame,
but could not return
to the humble embrace of his home,
where his mother,
lost in the fog of time,
searching for the shadow of her son
until the end of her days.

Is the path too long,
from America to the village,
or is the world itself
simply shifting this way
in the modern age?

***

Footnotes:
1. Ganga: A holy river of India.
2. Ghats: A broad flight of steps leading down to a river.