Venkat Talks

PAST TENSE I started as a trickle, Nothing about me fickle Down a pristine glacier I flow; Merry, bright and all glow. Twisting and tumbling over pebbles With foam, froth and spherical bubbles I swirl and surge day and night Through dawn, dusk and even twilight. What is this? A new terrain? Through my shallows flow a drain. I am being pelted with waste and garbage Cans, cartons and even a rotten cabbage. I slow my spirit, cautious and wary, Feeling like a pitiful quarry. 'Is this what I was born for?' I wonder "To be harassed at every meander?' I merge with the sprawling ocean which looks nothing like a calming salvation. Through a sudden epiphany I realised my friends, That my happiness was long gone and is now past tense. by Bhairavi Venkatesan