Many had come in the first dawn of life—
Some as playmates, some curious,
Some as companions at work, some to impede.
Today, you who have stayed behind in this solitary hour,
In the dismal light of the weary twilight,
Come bearing your lamps to bid adieu before the boat leaves the shore.
You comrades of my travels,
Are like the stars of the night
In the last weary moments of the traveller whose path disappears into darkness.

Udayan
February 4, 1941
Morning

Published in Parabaas August, 2010 (22-she Sraban, 1417)