A Poem For Ma.

Gentle but sure little tea-lights
That lit up the PET scan plate
Took you away from the garden
You looked after
It’s green nurtured to greener
And the cadence of your touch
Lasted longer than you
On your madhabilatas and your kamini-kurchis-chandramallikas
The early morning-tea cup
You blessed with your butterfly lips
Sits still on the kitchen shelf
With a hapless cardboard placard
“Kiss me quick…”
Your lonely afternoons of
Nodding off in the couch
Waiting for someone who came to see you
Once a year or maybe not
Your long phone calls with friends
Resonated “Dasht-E-Tanhai”
The Iqbal Bano lilt, and, surrender
To old age and dis-ease
And wisdom
I would like to see you again
When evening sets in
You light your incense sticks
And blow your conch shell
To your gods
So I know, it’s time for me to go out
And meet my friends over tea…

©Sahana Bajpaie 2018.