Summertime Blues

    K Radhakumar

Today is a very, very hot summer’s day.
He thinks it is now high summer
And remembers the last spring.
His wife
They married young
And it was on a lovely day in spring.
A truly memorable occasion!
Hot and perspiring,
He toils up the hill.
Water, water, more water.
He is not only thirsty but also hungry
And therefore, takes a couple of bites of the bread.
‘I will take some more water,’ he talks to himself.
He gulps the rest of his water
And goes about his business as usual.

BBC shows pictures of excruciating deaths
Of children through hunger and thirst,
The victim of ethnic clashes
Or the ethnic cleansing, as one correspondent put it,
In the African countries.
‘Is the world ready to become one place?’
‘No, not yet.’

He, like everyone else, toils up the hill.
A social animal
His is a busy social life.
He is hungry for
Money, power, fame, knowledge
Spiritual welfare…
There are beads of sweat on his face
And with a wild hungry look in his eyes
He toils up the hill
Like everyone else.
His family, his friends
His loneliness…
In the evening, the gentle breeze brings
A sweet song
And tears stream down his face.
Sometimes he feels he is sailing
In a boat on a river
And the river is flowing into the sea.
He has only a vague idea
About the hilltop
But toil up he does
Rain or shine.