A Prayer of Hope

My lines, they fill my mind with hope,
It slowly slides up that slippery slope.
My love for the world, and all its ways,
Keeps me from drowning in dreary days.

The trust I place in life and luck,
A misplaced faith, seemingly stuck,
In nothing but dreams, with nothing but air;
Faith in a world that's fine and fair.

Whither the fear? Whither the hate?
Where is that frightening hand of fate?
With me I carry my Maker's mark,
Safe and away from all that's dark.

Those lives I've lost, those friends I miss,
I dream of them, their brows I kiss.
Every moment I live, I pray,
Let no more life be lost today.

I wrote this within a few minutes, on 12th Feb, at 7.30 p.m. while waiting for a taxi to take me from Pune to Mumbai. I had not been planning to go that day, just as I had not been thinking of writing any such thing. The next evening, my favorite cafe in Pune was blown to bits.