When you smile
I recall
The first rosy dawn
Seen in the crimson Himalayas
From a rented villa balcony
Overlooking an echoing deep valley;
The first live rainbow,
Glimpsed from a crowded train,
The huge band,
Arching over a vast plain
Freshly flooded by the white rains,
The colours lighting up the rain-waters
Like broken emeralds;
The first hearty giggle of a toddler
Being tossed by a soldier-papa
Just
Returned from a harrowing war
From Afghanistan,
The first smile of a terminally-ill patient,
Slightly recovered and optimistic,
At the caring visitor from
A dim past,
And
The grin flashed at a customer
By an ageing Thai mother
Selling fruits and hats,
From her flat boat
In the floating market of Bangkok;
Yes, dear,
Your smile
That captures the freshness of life
And says it all
Through that slight curve
Of full luscious
Red lips
And a round mouth
That glows in the night
Like a baby-moon
In the profound rain-forests
Still visited by the spirits
From cultures of yore.
