The Conch Shell

There’s sand in my hair

And sun in my eyes,

To reflect that sparkle

Which I thought, had long died.

 

Wandering alone on the beach barefoot,

A conch shell I find, lying abandoned

By the sea, was it brought home

From the land it once belonged?

 

From a home of a million laughs

Where colours smiled happy and gay

Shouts of fun and food and the sun

Which shone bright on this festive day.

 

It lay grand, much loved and cared

To herald an auspicious start

Blown with grace, once twice thrice

To a time long long back.

 

Tides of time changed flight

And nothing remained the same again

For here it lay today, forgotten

With memories alone for its remaining days.

 

Till the harsh wind and the strong waves

Washed it away from a land of laughs

Will it ever find a loving home

To rest it’s head and find some warmth?

 

I pick it up, gently brush the sand

Caress the edges, the broken walls

It’s mouth, where a kiss of love lay

Now awashed with dirt and smothered by decay.

 

In my hands, ignored for so long

In search of peace, some love

A touch of magic to a mundane day

I promised, you would bring again.

 

I wash it gently in the ocean

Make it gleam and glow

Tired it looked, a long journey it’s been

To come thus far, to a future unknown.

 

A little yonder lay a hut,

Modest with a thatched roof.

A patch of green with flowers galore

That way I set my foot.

 

Took silent steps, lest we wake someone

For night had come in our walk from far

The moon kissed our hair, the wind our cheeks

We needed a home to open the doors ajar.

 

We stepped in to the sound of giggles

The children were sharing a joke

Ragged but bright, their smiles made me cry

Reminded us so of home.

 

Warm food, though humble

A bed to lie and a lamp to light the dark

The conch lay beside me in peace

As I shut my eyes, did I hear a tiny sigh?

 

The morning sun, it’s gentle rays

Soft and sweet with hope

My eyes were shut, but did I hear

A sound I once so knew?

 

A soft blowing of the old, old conch

A sound from a distant land

A time long gone, from a childhood it came

To my ears, they were like a thousand songs.

 

I opened my eyes to a young day

A new beginning I know,

The conch lay grand yet again

In the hands of the mother of the abode.

 

With a smile divine, she blew again

Soft. Sweet. Gay.

To herald the time which promised us all

A home in the heart, where all evils we slay.