A Friendship Quilt

Struggling to survive in a foreign land

I met an old lady, working on a small piece of quilt

“Lovely”, I remarked

Proudly she showed me nine more pieces made by her friends,

To complete the mosaic of her quilt

Nuance of her wrinkled face, filled with cherished memories of a lifetime

“Do you have friends?” She asked after a pause

A quilt needle pierced through my heart

“No,” I said quietly. " All were left behind.”

That night in my cold empty room

Tears rolling from my eyes,

I longed for the placid familiarity of my homeland

For the loving warmth of a friendship quilt

At midnight moon came out smiling from the clouds

In its pellucid light from window pane

A checkered pattern emerged on the wall

The flat white squares on the wall

Were dappled with the leaves and tree branches hanging in the sash

Silhouette of a perfect quilt breathing life in still room

Made me smile through my tears

I opened the window

Standing in the dark room, listening to the quaint causerie

Of stars and moon, of wind and leaves

I watched the ebullition of benevolence from Nature

Sweeping through my backyard.

Clairvoyance?

For a sylph whispered from the woods

“You are not alone”!

Savita Tyagi