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IT MATTERS DEAR FATHER
Tarzan comic strip in the newspaper,
A movie showing Johnny Weismuller,
Then Rustum, then Muhammad Ali,
A walk down Elphinston Street,
Talking about John Wayne's Circus World,
Bicycle rides when it was not chilly,
Singing in your melodious voice,
The beach trips to Marina,
And the slow train to Trichy,
Eating at Virdachalam station,
And jumping into the train
As it started to roll off the platform.
How many a memory
Floats on my mind's silver-screen!
All lending a poignant touch
To the sombre moments of today.
Why do I miss you so O my father?
Your countenance smiles at me from afar,
Telling me to take life easy.
Dear father, you have gone away,
Yet so much of you still stays,
And everything multiplies itself,
Everything linked with you,
When I look at your picture on the wall,
And on top of the mantelpiece.
I long to know where you are,
Where your soul is in this vast infinity
Of unending space;
And mists of the past,
Envelope me as I sit and relive,
Each and every grand time,
Of my days shared with you.
From childhood to youth,
And from youth to this day,
When this world makes me miss you,
So much more.
Why do I miss you so much?
When I know that you have left me,
Never to return as they say.
Then why do I grope, gazing in space,
Trying to locate where you could be.
There is no one to take your place,
No one to share my views,
On Saigal* and Ali.
Where are you my dear father?
Please give me a clue,
And contact me from wherever you are,
It matters a lot to me,
Yes, it does dear father.
