Silent Pain – Delhi Poetry Slam

Silent Pain

Mitali Sen

You were quiet and calm,
 Even in the storm
 Through shattered things,
 And childish wars-
 My sister and I,
 Fierce in our youth,
 Through my failed exams,
 My silent shame, 
 You stood beside me
 When Baba flared
 When the world was cruel,
 When I was alone
 When even I 
 Could not believe in me-
 You did
 You were the rock
 To which I clung.
 
 Oh Ma,
 You were there 
 Since the first breath
 Of my becoming
 
 Now your steps are slow,
 But still your spirit glows-
 A stubborn flame,
 In a softening wind,
 You hear my voice,
 You see my face,
 And even now
 You know-
 Unerringly-
 If I am troubled.

And yet,
 Your thoughts begin to drift,
 Like leaves caught
 In a stream I cannot follow.
 You gaze beyond me now 
 To places I cannot see
 And I know
 The thing I fear
 Is drawing near.
 
 I lay awake at night
 My mind a turbulent sea,
 Pain rising,
 Like tides beneath the moon
 How will I endure 
 A world
 That no longer holds you?
 Sometimes-
 I long to follow,
 To walk the path you soon must take
 But then,
 I see my Boys-
 Their need for Love-
 And I remember
 They too deserve
 What I once had in you
 
 Others have borne 
 This hollowing ache
 And I-
 I shall bear it too,
 For I know
 You would have it no other way.
   The power in me 
 Will weather that sorrow
 When it comes
 For I shall whisper
 In to the stillness
 I too shall pass,
 In God’s own time-
 And then,
 You and I
 Shall be again
 As we once were.


Leave a comment