Star-lit paths

Star-lit paths
Beautiful the familiar path—
Like this star-lit night
Stretched over the earth,
As a stiff bluish-white sheet,
A mellow light
Illuminating the rough fields,
The small temple on the bare brown hills,
The dark hovels and the glowing palaces,
On this bitter December night,
The feeble moon appearing,
Then hiding behind
The flabby clouds
Like a baby playing
Hide-n-seek
With an indulgent mother,
Shedding its soothing light
A milky white,
Illuminating the
Uneven path of the
Solitary traveler
On quick feet,
Returning home
In a remote village,
Where,
In a sad hovel awaits
A pair of
Aged eyes
Fixed forever
On the meandering
Path that once
Took away a
Young person
To a distant land
Of hard labour
And loan sharks,
Eager eyes waiting
Before breathing
Final goodbye.