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Dear Tata, With Love

They tell me you'd bang the dishes
To entertain me so I'd eat.
I wish I could remember what it felt like...
And have you watching over me.

Yours was the love that stood at the bus stop
To welcome me home after school.
You would ask for my bag, but I never gave it
Since they said it was too heavy for you.
But now, after so many months,
The weight is too much for me too.

Yours was the patience that sat at the table,
Waiting for me to finish my food.
I remember I used to feel annoyed
When you put stray bones on my plate.
But now I feel annoyed
That I never waited for you.

Yours was the compassion that climbed up the stairs
To accompany me as I studied.
But then you went higher up, leaving me down,
And I find myself unable
To accompany you any further.

Then suddenly one day, there was on your finger
A device to measure one's pulse.
Never before had I been more terrified
Of seeing two straight lines...

We were in that room, all of us.
You left a breath, then you left us all.
From a loving and breathing man in the living room,
You morphed into a garlanded photograph off the wall.

Who could've thought one broken arm
Would break so many hearts in two?

And now I'll never know
How you'd spent your childhood afternoons,
And you'll never know
Who came second in my school.

You taught me a lot, but why? Oh! Why
Did you have to introduce me to regret and loss?

Till this day it haunts me to think
Of those wasted minutes of every day -
Minutes that denied you and me
A fortnight of loving nights.

There's so much I didn't tell you,
So many things I never did...
Our time together was so short
It soon became too late.

Comments

  1. Unknown20 July 2019 at 20:40

    Such great words..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown20 July 2019 at 23:25

    Every word of yours resonates so deeply and powerfully with me.

    Just one thing: he would never want you to feel 'regret and loss' at his passing away, rather a strength in the wonderful memories you shared with him. His boundless, unconditional love stays with you, at every step. God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown28 April 2020 at 09:25

    Soul touching..

    ReplyDelete

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