Are You One of These?

   FORLORN

The coffin lay
on the tiled floor
of the crematorium.
forlorn and withered

The lace and silk
adorns the body
pale and peeling like parchment.

Husband is at home
keeping company
to a lonely house.

No use crying over
spilt milk.
Life must go on
as it used to be.

Son and daughter
sit far from her
eagerly waiting
to finish things over.

Mourners observe time
to go home
to resume their work
 half done.

All wait
for a close relative to come.

A car door opens.
A man gets out and
hurries to the coffin.


 Mutters a few
 comforting words
to the son, standing.

The hot fire
embraces the woman!
A sigh of relief


from the son!
Now he can resume
 his thesis writing!

This is what I feel about my son

MY GRASSHOPPER in the SUMMER

He composes hip hop and R& B

"REASON" is his tool.

Too old not to do a job

winks when I reprimand him

for his in-activeness.

Society expects the children of the teachers

to be at top levels! How troublesome !

I avoid the gaze of my friends on the bus,

dreading that they will inquire about my son,

 He has a phobia

of exams of any kind:

Used to fall ill a lot

 during his term tests.

His favorite doctor looks at me

with a question mark in his eyes:

indicating that

It is rather psychological than physical.

I,    

With a broken heart,

Return home with medication.

 Yet:When his aththa fell ill

He spent a whole week in hospital

looking after him like a baby.

He was the friend of

all the old men in that ward

fetching them all they need.

A cup of tea from the canteen:

a packet of Cream Crackers

 from the nearby  boutique:

Calls to their sons and daughters   (Though I suffered)

Takes his own time to complete the degree

doing everything he can to postpone the exams.

I , wait  helplessly

thinking what I can do to change the situation!

But Whatever you do,

 I love you!

The GRASSHOPPER of mine!



P.S.

(Luckily for me the situation has changed. He is doing a job now while continuing his studies.)