Poem: A Psalm of Hope
Painting: Shazia Basheer
By Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca
Blessed are you
If the breath of life
Has chosen you for a new day
Allowed you to waken early
With eyes to see
The saffron and pink skies of dawn,
Or if you rise late, to behold
The bright yellow sun.
Blessed are you
Who have been granted ears to hear
To listen to the sweet symphony of birds
The gentle sound of trees
Swaying in the morning breeze
Outside your kitchen window.
Blessed are you
If with nostrils filled with breath
You can smell the aroma
Of ginger tea or steaming coffee
In a place you call home.
If the breath of life
Filled you like an overflowing water pot
Drawn from the village well,
You have awakened
To the gift of hope.
The world will look different
If you can spend a day
Without fearful utterances of the words
Virus, Pandemic, Lockdown,
Not to deny their existence
But render them voiceless and faceless
For even a moment, so time may not pass you by.
From a new morning
Until
The splendor of the moon
Pours moonlight into your bedroom.
And night has arrived,
You have lived a day of hope
And your prayers for those
Who were robbed of life’s breath
Will bring to your consciousness
The precious gift of life
Granted to you.
The world will be restored
In God’s good timing,
Hope awaits
Right around the corner
Reach out your arms,
Receive it, and pass it on
Breathe Hope
In those who walk
Hundreds of miles
To reach their villages
And the warmth of their loves ones.
To succor them with food and sustenance.
Bio:
Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca was born and raised in Mumbai. She was educated at the Queen Mary School, Mumbai, received her BA in English and French, an MA from the University of Bombay in English and American Literature, and a Master’s in Education from Oxford Brookes University, England. She was a teacher and Career Counselor and has taught English, French and Spanish in various colleges and schools in India and overseas, in a teaching career spanning over four decades. Her first book, Family Sunday and Other Poems, was published in 1989, with a second edition in 1990. She has read her poems for the All India Radio in Mumbai, and her poem ‘Family Sunday’ was featured in an Anthology of Women’s Writing. She writes Poetry and Short Fiction. She has been published in the Bombay Review, Destiny Poets U.K., Spillwords, and manages her own poetry page.
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