Void, the Way of Life

A kindly lady lives in a large house with her brother, both unmarried, both elderly, say, around seventy. I stayed with them for two years— with the two graceful hosts. More than the income from a paying guest, they seemed to care more for some souls in a two-storied sprawling mansion. Soon you become part of that household. But then, you have to leave the town on transfer, and they let you with a heavy heart. On my part too it is difficult to part. You promise to visit them sometime and leave. But ‘soon’ somehow gets stretched to three long years, and when you manage to visit, it is too late. Death, man’s nearest companion, had called on them, and in a span of a few days, you come to know. With some sense of sin You tear away from the scene, A void whirls within, Draped in memories We hang on with heavy heart, Void’s the way of life. __________________________ Haibun |07.08.2021|