“Satinder & Joe Sit Down to Write a Poem”
1.
He is a 46-year old American
Who has came to India to teach English
At Salaam Baalak Trust.
I am Satinder,
A 15-year old Indian
Who is living at Salaam Baalak Trust
Since two years.
We have known each other
For one week,
We talk about our countries,
We say our feelings to each other,
And I say “Your turn”
When his turn to talk.
He lives in Johnson City,
A quiet village of 50,000 peoples
In the mountains of East Tennessee.
I live in Delhi,
it is the capitol of India,
it is a noisy city of 20 million peoples.
And I tell Joe:
“Your turn.”
2.
I tell Satinder
I have come to his country
To learn more about India,
More about me.
I hope to learn about LIFE & LOVE
And what it means to be Human,
And what I might wish for had I only one wish.
And I tell Satinder:
“Your turn now.”
3.
Last week he asked me
“What is, Satinder, your one wish?”
I answer him last week,
And my answer is still same this week –
I want to change my nature,
I want to be good.
When I am good, everyone will be good.
That is my wish.
“Your turn.”
4.
A fine wish I tell Satinder,
a better wish than I can conjure.
I think of the wishes I have blown
On countless birthday cakes –
My wishings for bicycles & baseball gloves
And for Lynn Hellman to like me
When I was a 15 year old boy.
And I ask him if his wish
Has always been so beautiful?
“Your turn,” I tell him.
5.
I think of some of my wishes
Before I answer him.
My father used to beat me,
And I wish for him to be good.
My mother is a step-mother
And I wish that she love me.
Joe asks me if I wish
for toys or games or girlfriends.
But these are the only wishes I remember.
“Your turn,” I tell him.
6.
I think of the India
I have come to know these past eight days –
The smell of the food in the street;
The beauty of the Taj Mahal;
The Gandhi Smriti that I visited Saturday.
But today, right now, what I will miss most
Is the people I have come to know.
I will miss Satinder telling me, again,
“Your turn.”
Satinder Sharma & Joe Rice
Salaam Baalak Trust, New Delhi, India
Monday June 2, 2008