My Grandma
Grandpa breathed his last when
My father was still in my grandma’s womb
For me it’s a distant dream to recall
What he looked like or what he was.
But what the people of the town said
That he was all in one for education of the kids
A head-master, a teacher, a peon, a caretaker.
But I do remember my grandma with whom
I lived since my birth to my teenage till
I left for the university education.
My grandma widowed at the age of nineteen
Bringing up my father, settled him for a good life.
Built a tall wall against all Tsunamies and if
there were Tsunamies, they're on the other side of the wall.
And then………..
She got up in the dawn, and knelt and blew
Till the seed of the fire flickered and a-glow
And then she had to scrub and baked and swept,
Went to river for wash and
Bring a pot of drinking water
Till stars were beginning to blink and peep;
And me lie long and dreamt in my bed,
And her day went over in idleness.
Waited my return from the school and
If late by a few minutes,
Will come half the way to school.
While she must work though old
Till the seed of the fire got feeble and cold
Getting cataracts in both her eyes and
I was her eyes and her ears and hands later
I remember my grandma as she lay dying,
What she said of me to my dad "that Babu,
He's all the treasure you will ever need”.
+++
October 19, 2014
Form: Free Verse
Dr. Ram Mehta
Sixth Place win
Contest: Sketch a character by Gautami Phookan
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