Schoolchildren in the Park

   K Radhakumar

When a light rain began to fall
The afternoon shone with happiness.
What a welcome change!
The schoolchildren couldn’t stop laughing.
They whistled, they jumped, they ran…
A thin blouse
Looking pale and sickly
(She looked like their headmistress
Who knew every student in the school)
Shouted from a corner in the park,
‘Don’t go out in the rain.
You’ll catch your death of cold.’

One VIP died yesterday.
May he rest in peace, they prayed
For they got a school holiday
As a mark of respect to the departed soul.
No rain
No thin blouse,
A headmistress look-alike
Nothing could dampen their spirits.

The rain poured down now.
They got out of the park,
The lot of worriers!
The schoolchildren played with a ball
In the rain of May.

I tried to make few concluding remarks,
‘In conclusion, I would like to …’, I began
But my wife cut in and said,
‘No.
How can you come to an end?
Why, you have not said anything!
You have not said
Why the schoolchildren played with a ball
In the rain,
Why they were happy.’
I think I was lost in thought –
‘Life develops into a tragic story with age.
How I wish
The rainy afternoon could be rounded off
Could be rounded off
With a happy note
To last us the whole night ahead
And perhaps the next day.