Do They Know | Neelam Dadhwal

Rose bouquets she was handing to
car passengers on a road at traffic lights
wearing a long skirt with lot of patch work
and dupatta over head, here and there mirrors
on it, brimming like in childhood I did.
The flowers from Botanical garden we cut
and gardener gladly let us did, was it spring, yes
and tied them together with little grass
we presented to our class teacher whom we little
met, thinking it would at last impress on final result day.
Today, I count each petal of them and miss
their side of story how collected our memories
they kept, year after year with each of those bud
till they bloomed in their garden, I miss the last turn
of our neck while rested on strong shoulders.
Will they be listening to us, how we formed,
how they matter, when I write this verse or may be
the change we underwent in course of career but
still their smile, their encouragement and their
efforts to form us, in wider, a human.

Indian Review | Indian Literature | Author | Neelam Dadhwal is a poet from Chandigarh, India. She started writing poetry in 2011 and has penned two poetry books, “Straight from life” and “Our times” so far. Her poems appear in various online journals and anthologies.