Stay!

In my dreamy world of cheery cottages and fairy rings

Soft snow in alabastrine translucence floats as it sings

I’m homeward bound after an arduous journey

The skies are blue-gray, puffy clouds marking my destiny

Snowmen stand sentinel by the path least trodden

Mutedly welcoming me, a traveler long-forgotten

A sunlit glitter adorns, a blanket of bluster shrouds

My footprints. ‘You’re home!’ they say, stay away from the crowd

The hearth and fireplace cocoon me with comforting warmth

Reminds me of days spent scampering in the basement beneath

Dusty film carpets the floorboards now

Echoes abound with playful gaiety, but there’s no happy show

Memories retreat like footprints fading

I keep the embers alive, stoking them, prodding

Lest one day I find, they’re forever gone

Leaving me clueless and all alone

There’s thrumming in the air, my home knows me

I knew you’d be back; this is your retreat and sanctuary!

Rime-spangled trees shiver in a flurry

Sprinkling crystalline dust, my footprints outside, quietly they bury

Sangeetha Kamath