A Hundred Returns
By Parminder Singh ‘Aziz’
I shall visit you again, a hundred times if the stars allow—
not as tourist or conqueror, but as a lover returning home.
I will come barefoot over cracked rivers,
press my cheek to dying trees,
and listen for your old heartbeat
beneath asphalt and bone.
You once taught me green,
monsoon and guiltless breath.
Now I return the promise you withdrew.
I will not abandon this scarred blue marble,
even when oceans rise like accusations,
even when forests fall silent.
I shall walk your wounded skin
a hundred lifetimes if need be,
until the air remembers my name
and the soil forgives my footsteps.
This is my reckoning—
stubborn, aching devotion.
I shall visit you again, Earth, a hundred times.
Dr. Parminder Singh is an IT Professional-turned-educator, and has overall experience of over twenty five years in the fields of software development, project management, digitization and teaching. A doctorate in English, he currently works as Assistant Professor of English at Dev Samaj College for Women, Chandigarh. He specializes in Cultural Studies and Digital Humanities. He is a multilingual poet, translator, short-story writer, and has national and international publications. He has been a key contributor in setting up Panjab Digital Library. He has received Jathedar G. S. Tohra Award for his Punjabi translation of P. S. Sachdeva’s Appreciating Sikhism and has co-translated Sudeep Sen’s poetry into Punjabi titled Gau-Dhoorh Vela. He is the 2025 winner of Chandigarh Saitya Akademi grant for manuscript under Punjabi poetry category.