--- For Neelima ---

~~~ In Memory of My Long-Lost Friend ~~~

Has a lifetime passed since the good old days?
I can still remember, when first you came to me,
And asked me for help with this project or that.
To me, that time in my life was golden as rays,
Of Sunlight shining upon a more innocent country.
Is this the same America I loved, so big and vast?

Long it seems, since we sat to talk, together,
And spoke of many things in the afternoon light...
At the library, surrounded by knowledge wild!
Fair, it seemed, was oft, outside, the weather,
But when it rained I often stayed near to night...
Because I cared so much for you, oh dear child!

I made our paintings not simply for your mother,
But to see your big smile, delighting in my art...
Would that I had told you how much that had meant!
For I have not seen your smile or even any other,
As cheerful as yours, since I did swift depart...
The last day I met with you, oh so heaven-sent!

So beloved is your memory in my heart, truly,
That many is the painting which bears your face...
Which I have made since we parted, all too soon.
Sometimes I get lost in a single lovely memory,
The memory of your innocent soul, full of grace...
And how drawn I felt to you, as if I might swoon.

Did I tell you that I thought you were beautiful,
That your raven hair was like a crown of splendor?
No, for when did time allow me that one pleasure!
In my memories of you, you are still so youthful.
When you comforted me, I found that a true wonder!
For compassion is rare in people, such a treasure.

When she to whom I had been wed was gone forever,
You remained, faithfully, my friend for years...
Had I not begun to fall in love you you, dear one.
Fear that I was not good enough for you, a fever,
Made me flee with haste, your side, with tears...
I wept bitterly, until I felt like a man undone.

Is that the danger, when a friend falls in love?
That I might lose you, and never see you again...
Perhaps we sometimes make our own Hell come true.
I have accepted, in sight of the gods high above,
That you too are lost to me, and that is a pain...
Which can only heal, when I have found love anew.

Yet, can I abandon fully all those years we spent?
Laughing together, in the face of harder times...
I shall keep a place for you in my heart, always.
For I can give my love to many, without a regret!
My heart is large, my feelings ring like chimes...
I shall remember you, dear heart, all of my days.

The great work you saw me writing is not complete,
Many pages have yet to turn before that can be...
Perhaps soon or perhaps a long time must yet pass.
But the man you knew has not changed, oh my sweet,
I still strive for the good, ever so zealously...
Know that I loved you; dear were you to me, lass!

- Mãĩ tumse pyār kartā hū̃

beautiful tribute

Just lovely!!

nicely done

what a wonderful tribute