Ask the soldier at the border
where the dead of night is broken only by intermittent fire and smoke,
where even the stars have deserted them as damned...
Ask the man in a hospital bed
where white walls devour the appetite
and sound sleep is many nights away...
Ask the job holder away from home for months on end,
returning to strange rooms every day...
Where is bliss?
Where is beatitude?
For long people have pined for Elysium,
where milk and honey flow in rivulets,
where blessings rain all day,
yearning for a magical place,
fancying an elusive enchanted idyll,
mystically revealed.
IF...
But...
When you look no further,
and turn your heart inwards,
when your search no longer matters..
When you hear the birds that have been singing all day,
when you suddenly smell the waft of fragrance from the flowers in the altar,
when you see steaming hot food made specially for you...
Look behind, not far away.
It's right there.
For most out there,
Home is Heaven,
the Elysium on earth,
the grace land,
the tent of tranquility.
Nandita De nee Chatterjee is a writer/ freelance journalist/housewife. Formerly with Economic Times. Cover stories and Feature Writer with Statesman, Illustrated Weekly of India, Economic Times, Telegraph, Times of India, Femina, Filmfare, Voix Meets Mode, UK, FrontierWeekly.com. Was Part Time Lecturer at Calcutta University Journalism department, PG. Was Consulting Editor, Environ. Launched Economic Times Marketplace for ET. Editing experience. Co Author, Big Bang of Non-Fiction, Life in Reverse; 30 Best Poets; Sea; Coffee and Echos; Wrapped Up Feelings; Christmas in my Heart, Moonlight, Writers' Haven. Featured in Namaste Ink, March 2020. Participate in major digital literary forums Poetry Planet, English Literature, Asian Literary Society, Literature Lovers Association, Realistic Poetry International, All Poetry.com, Let's Make Stories, Our Poetry Archive, Chrysanthemum Chronicles, Wonder Women World Writers, Beyond the Box, Women's Web.