memories I come back to you
time and again
through countless tides
on aery sea face
where standing between two shores
we build a bridge of lost eons - - -

of the many years that I rendered you
pilfer my desires for me;

Despite his courage, the insurmountable effect of time’s prowess on his veins can be clearly seen. As they say much water has flown under the bridge and evidently so. I wish one could measure the essence of time. We say quality but then that is so subjective, so human and unscientific prone to hours of discussions, debates and later on comments which these days become so unmanly to most of us (yet we never refrain). He lived his life to the fullest (in all sense of the term) and even these days after 81 years when he speaks he tends to exude a sense of calm that is so inadequate in most of us.

of old flint efflorescent time
uplifting its stony head,
like a solitary star on black nights
amongst unseen, unheard spirits -
strike it bright with shining steel
on this raining night’s dancing ordeal;

of the many years that I rendered you
pilfer my dreams for me;

He does talk of death these days perhaps more than he has ever done in his entire life but then he talks of it as a certainty and not out of self pity. The death of his son in 1998, aged forty four, had left him shattered and weak. He perhaps would have wanted to die at that time yet he survived, survived with scars of time though as well as with all truths, the scars do lighten but never disappear. The fact remains that he grew old faster than he would have done otherwise. In fighting the malaise he showed a sense of resoluteness in overcoming it that is hardly seen these days. Remember he had lost a son whom he loved the most. But through all this he never lost his sense of calm which has always been associated with him. A great man who lives life on his own terms, does the right things and defines what is right, has seen zillions of ups and downs - fighting, surviving and still living with a legacy of how exactly to live a life like a true gentleman (and believe me there is still this concept that is viable).

like many a man past, man will outgrow you
and you will live through me fresh as green
like first rays on window sills
of moments enraptured in countless deeds
flesh in flesh who momentarily believes
where my soul rests, lies my memories;

of the many years that I rendered you
pilfer my moments for me;