It has been for long an open secret-
Everybody knows it;
Never talked about aloud,
But always the main topic,
The central theme, the relished news,
Shared in hushed whispers,
Remembered with nostalgic pleasure,
Cherished with warm thoughts,
Awaited with bated suspense,
Hoped with eager joy,
This is brewing for quite some time.
Ready we are to receive the dear one,
Parted for so long, but never forgotten.
It is coming,
It is in the air,
The senses stand sharp to scent it.
The expectation, the thrill,
Stamps its foot in impatience.
Is it overdue?
Is it dallying?
Is it playing hide and seek?
No, it's just round the corner;
The countdown has started;
The sigh of relief sits on the tip
Waiting to escape,
Hard to contain any longer.
All eyes on the conductor,
On the raised baton.
Ah! The golden moment has arrived!
At last he has waved the staff!
Joy to the world!
Thousand instruments play at once,
A grand feast of heavenly nature;
Pure mirth gushes out
In unending cascades;
Pleasure pierces out of every pore.
A host of holy notes roll out
In a symphony of ethereal beauty.
All that was still bristles-
Earth shakes off its white shroud;
Warm sun mops the frost off the air;
Happy birds hop and chirp;
Ice becomes gurgling streams;
Old and young giggle in jubilation;
All of a sudden the green unfurls
Like a magic carpet,
Dotted with myriad colors
Of teeming, fragrant flowers:
A pageantry bespeaking festivity.
An annual occurrence it is,
Repeated with unerring precision,
Prosaic in practical knowledge,
But poetic in personal experience.
Old as the world,
Young as the just born moment.
Everytime the winter curtain rises
There is ovation for the spring scene.
A special spring this sure is-
The first of a brave new millennium,
Heralding a million more springs.
Rejoice, ye brethren of the global village.
