January 27, 2012
Grandmother...
She had a wish
Her death wish-that
Her body to be wrapped
With the shroud from Mecca
A long piece of
White cotton cloth
Thoughtfully bought
From her last pilgrimage to the Holy city
Healthy and strong she was
After distributing Zakath on the Ramadan month
I saw the brightness of her face
The happiness was different from other time
My nasty mind told me
The dying lamp burns high
I shooked off the thought
Dont be silly though
She left us
On a New year's eve
The whole world celebrating
But for me it was mourning though
Oh! she went back
Tears stacked in my eyes
I want to roll down and cry
But the rules prohibited me
There she came, washed and then
Wrapped in white cloth
My eyes were blurred
The salty water masking my eyes
In the back ground of heavy prayers
With the mystic smells
That haunted me for years
She slept - her last deep sleep
Memories are like huge tree
Deep rooted and heavily branched
Will be with everyone
Till the day to the grave
I get the vision of my childhood
Running after the lamb she raised
Feeding the chicks she grew
And helping her harvest the veggies
I liked her smell
The smell of eucalyptus and sandal oil combined
I liked her eyes
The eyes that were deep to see what I felt
I liked her hair-soft and white
which was like the cotton fluff
It too had the mystic smell
of pepper, camphor and wild amla
There I saw them taking her away
Chanting the versus that leads her the way
For a moment I wished I too could go with her
To give her company..that she gave me althrough my ways.
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