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Here are two literary works by Sehar, a poem and a short story, woven around the theme of the silent solitude. In Romancing the Celestial Bodies, she delves into the many emotions that the moon, stars and the sun give us, silently. What if these heavenly bodies spoke, she wonders. Strawberry Fragrance deals with silent communication of a loved one, far away. Find out the beautiful resolution in this work of the writer-poet, exclusively for Different Truths.
Romancing the Celestial Bodies
We romance with the moon
We shed tears with the stars
We laugh with the sun
We smile with the wind
We look at them each day
We talk to them
We sing to them
We live with them
A poet gets inspired, a lover gets happiness,
A child gets excited, a farmer sleeps in peace
A plethora of emotions surround them….but not a line do they speak.
What if tomorrow they talk to us?
What will they have to share with us – the Humans ever wondered?
***
Strawberry Fragrance
The butterflies dance on the vibrant winter hues blooming gleefully in her garden. The sight
makes her delighted just like a child.
She smiles and he looks.
It is just the same, maybe a tooth or two missing, but just the same. The warmth of her smile
continues to fill his heart with so many emotions. Even after thirty years, the whiff of
strawberry fragrance in air, makes him feel her presence.
A decade has passed by their morning ritual remains the same.
He picks her up softly in his arms and bring her to the garden each morning. He pours out
two cups of tea, as she smiles at the butterflies, he looks at her for hours endlessly.
The wooden frame containing her picture has started to look a little shabby now. But her
smile inside the frame still looks as fresh as the new bloom in the garden.
Suddenly the air fills up with the familiar strawberry fragrance, he turns around, his
granddaughter runs up into his arms and then onto his lap.
As the butterflies continue to dance on the fresh blossom, he whispers softly, “You are still
with me…”
©Sehar Siddiqui ‘Zulekha’
Photos from the internet.
