Flight

You'll be gone
For who knows how long
And I'll be humming this song
With no one to sing along

The door is left unanswered
For the one who didn't ring
Two sullen backs lean
On opposite sides of the door
Both floating at the brink

A part still entangled
Incites a chaos
Leave thoughts wrangled
A part flies independent
Building castles
That were once abandoned

A bird so eager to fly
Born to soar the sky
Can't let a branch
On which it stayed for a while
Make it cry
Only after leaving the tree
Surrendering to the gravity
Will the true ability
Of its wings
Ever be realized
Each flap reminiscent of the joy and pain
That can't be felt without closing it's eyes
Each flutter will rupture
The chains that held it back
The chains rusting through time
Who were once strong
To hold the bird
But never enough
To confine
It's unyielding will to try

A truant finds home
Against the golden canvas of the setting sun
The cotton clouds echoing the brilliant light
Of the fragrant madrigal chirped
And the world in silence for once
Will witness the magnificence
Of the bird finally in flight

-Nilay S. Shah