Scribbled Rhymes

Scribbled rhymes in an old school book
Speak of a page long turned.
When streets were empty, when the mind was free,
When worldliness wasn’t yet learned.

Scribbled rhymes in an old school book
From the depths of promise were born.
Nor boundary, nor ego, nor judgment they knew
Nor baggage of times forgone.

They filled each verse with innocent hope
Each simile with simple thought.
Each line unraveled the road first travelled,
Then slowed to a silent halt.

I found that page on a dusty shelf,
Yellowed by the taint of life.
It’s tough to write on with conscious mind
And heart of selfish strife.

I must find that space, where I wandered before,
Those streets in the glistening sun.
And before I find that place again,
Outgrow who I have become.

Wilson Varghese
August 2, 2009