Nightingales in Winter

K Radhakumar

Wintry weather,
Wintry landscape
And a wintry sun!
It’s freezing cold;
I greet the day
With a wintry smile.
I am not asking
Why it is cold in winter.
No, I never.
I am wide awake
And dream of a pleasant summer
The time of the year
When the sun shines and birds sing
When the flowers toss and turn
To the rhythm of the gentle breeze.
I also dream of a place
Where there is no war
Where there is no unemployment
Where there is no jail
No court no hospital
Where the old are hale and hearty
Where the young are full of life.

My night blues:
I no longer dream
When I am asleep.
I am not a nocturnal animal
And therefore, works during the day.
It’s been always a long day
But I do not know
If I had a good day.
Maybe I am in a dreamlike sate
Between waking and sleeping
Between sleeping and waking,
 I keep on dreaming of things
All my waking hours.
Oh, a summer of all summers
In the midst of a hard winter!