A SUPERANNUATED WORKMAN’S DEPARTING DAY SPEECH

It is never easy to speak,

When you know

You are standing

At the end of a long road

With the burden of a past

Getting heavier on

Your drooping shoulders

Never easy,

When you know

You have spent life

Listening to others

And forgot to

Create a space

For things you could speak of

Never indeed,

When you know

People who never thought

You deserved to speak

Are your audience

But today,

I will speak,

Despite

My stuttering inhibitions,

Despite

My unpleasant voice,

Despite

My rustic accent,

I will speak,

If not for any reason,

Just to tell the world

That I can also speak

With

A guttural effervescence,

A Sinking sensation

In the larynx layered with

The smoke and smell of

Cheap tobacco,

I am afraid

I may sound too hoarse,

With memories

Strewn together

Across silent decades,

I am afraid, my expression

May be found unpalatable,

Somewhat coarse  

For this occasion

But I will speak,

Gentlemen! Ladies!

I will still do,

If not for any good reason,

Just to tell the world

That silences also speak

© DEEPAK DARSHAK