Death of a Child

I flip pages full of careful scribbles:
A school days memoir I treasure to date.
Images so vivid... Nostalgia tickles...
Changes so blatant since second grade.

Little delights that boundlessly thrilled;
Pleasures so trivial that aroused a smile.
Infinite desires now remain unfulfilled;
Smiles suppressed by problems that pile.

The heart didn't know of class and caste.
Impetuous ire never grew to revenge.
But all those things so far in the past,
When worldly values were not entrenched.

Harmless pranks on fellow mates;
Fickle fights that didn't last an hour.
Now flimsy politics for accolades.
A word can turn a friendship sour.

No problem too great for mom to solve;
The heart brimming with hope to battle all odds.
Minor setbacks now break my resolve;
Searching for strength in fraudulent Gods.

Trapped, ensnared, in the heart I tiled
Joys that lit the childhood days.
While growing up I killed the child
While futile wants I blindly chase.

- Himanshu