Queen

I stood outside a popular restaurant in my hometown

The serpentine queue was half way around the block

So I got talking to this elderly man with greying hair

Wearing an old-fashioned shirt too tight for him.

We talked about music and influential artists of the past

Casually he said that he used to play in a band in school

Our lead singer was this shy boy named Farrokh

You only know his rock star name of Freddie Mercury.

My face must have registered a huge shock and surprise

He held my shoulders and said I assure you this is no joke

I studied in the little hill station of Panchgani as student

In St Peter’s school did Farrokh Bulsara start the Hectics.

In school he was most moved by music and learnt the piano

Before rock he played the masters - Chopin, Mozart and Debussy

And then modern composers and singers, Elvis and Little Richard 

Before long a band was formed, he was the star of our show.

I must admit, the gentleman said, as young boys forming a band

We had only one aim in our mind – to impress the girls

And nothing more, music is a bonus but it was not our life

Only the twelve-year-old Freddie had a greater purpose in life.

The queue was getting shorter and I had questions to ask

Did you have any recording from those days that survive?

Did you play sold out concerts in your little hill town?

Did you ever keep in touch with your friend the Rock God?

He was talented but you’d never think that a Panchgani schoolboy

Would become a megastar, a legend and rule the sound waves

We never had those dreams that drove him to the top

We were satisfied and contented playing at school fetes and things

We did meet him years later when he was famous

Then we grew older and drifted apart

Only the memories remain dear to my heart

Our queue was now over and we reached the end of the line

I shook hands with my new friend and exchanged numbers

We promised to meet and listen to his stories

Sitting down to eat a meal I thought to myself

This was the closest I came to meeting the Queen

***

On to  'Q' for 'Queen'

My challenge for April is to write poetry. 

My A to Z entries can be navigated to from this page - A2Z, please do take some time out to read and comments on the poems.