by Anupam Patra
Sure, biased and absolute
your embrace was,
you were the cradle of unrelenting love
that hid a generation of follies—
love that endured
two lifetimes.
I was your balm, your redemption
your adored return on investment;
the cause of your swollen arm
when braving the swing
of Mother’s hand.
Your pampering, ageing self
had stood up
against accusation of my laze—
‘But isn’t idling
an entitlement of these years?’
you’d asked—chuckling,
rubbing your wound,
your smile a rainbow between wrinkled ears.
There were days when
I’d agree to go to school
only because you dropped me
on your loyal bicycle;
those roads were full o’ tales
you’d spin every dayin a new way;
those paths and heroes synonymous
with my childhood,
long after I belonged to adulthood.
Your smile filled my eyes
like a dream from an old night
as I fidgeted inside
a delayed flight,
fighting the horror
of clock’s hands,
crushed by the cryptic SMS
‘Come Soon’.
By the time
I stood by your bed,
Absorbing your quiet face,
searching for life
in your legs,
their familiar warmth—
which my fingers recalled
from the afternoons you’d cajoled me
to press them—
had fled to an unreachable place,
leaving behind the echo of a voice
which, to this day,
calls my name in wistful ways.
