A Lonely Shadow

Kalatop Rest House, Khajjiar
I wrote this back in August of 2003 and strangely quite a few people liked it back then. I just found it today hiding beneath my stack of sheets. So I thought I would put it up here.  The photo is of Kalatop Rest House at Khajjiar, Himachal.
Peace~

Stopping by the house on my way at night
I saw a lonely shadow with her arms open wide
On a night so warm when winds could make you sway
I could hear the summer trees softly whispering away

“Slow down young stranger won’t you sit and rest a while
You’ve traveled so far but there’s still another mile”
Then I felt the tender touch of soft southern breeze
Lord knows I saw her again with a smile

The house has stood alone as time rolled by
In the chill of the night I could hear her soft sigh
To the stars she whispered, as her shadow grew deep
Then I saw a lonely tear as it fell from her eye

As the night said goodbye with coming of the dawn
I knew yet again, I had found another song
The story of the house where she used to live
But the time just passed and her shadow is now gone

I am traveling still alone on this long and quiet night
Thought I saw an old shade calling me by her side
But the winds that surround just wouldn’t let me stay
Oh to hear the summer trees softly whispering away.

Gautam Dhar
August 25, 2003
Lansing MI

Comments So Far..
  • T A RAMESH 24 March, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    The haunting presence of a lady enticing you for her embrace reminds me of the lines – “the wailing woman waiting for her demon lover” perhaps coming somewhere in the extemporary poem of S.T. Coleridge, Kubla Khan! So, don’t be caught by the nymphs in the cold nights!

  • ashwini 28 March, 2008 at 2:14 am

    just reminds of the ghost stories penned by Ruskin Bond.

    Good one.

  • Gautam 28 March, 2008 at 7:53 pm

    :O thanks

  • lynn 23 July, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    Dear Gautam,

    What a beautiful poem.
    Seems you encountered the loving breath of the Divine mother encouraging you on your journey. Perhaps she once lived there in one of her incarnations and her presence still remains as she awaits the return of her Beloved.

  • raju 20 October, 2014 at 9:38 am

    Great Poetry at very young age!!

  • prachi 11 September, 2015 at 11:35 am

    bful poem..nd thats my home town dalhousie..loved the pic posted of kalatop

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