By Soumya Sarita Kar
There lingers in my house for years
A feeble crackling sound
Followed by ceaseless whimpers
That never cares about days or nights
Festivals or rituals and rites.
Lately we knew of
Mother's knee joints and lower back-
Home to reckless pain
And a crackling permanent.
Medications, frequent visits To doctor,
Exercises following the diet chart
Made her exhausted even more.
What medication could heal
A pain for years overlooked!
What diet could rejuvenate
A body so mercilessly wrecked!
What exercise could help her
Drooping body to be restored!
Amid looking after the ancestral house,
Family's health and our study
She forgot to sit a while, to rest a bit
As if resting didn't suit her.
At times of family gatherings
She juggle frogged - day and night
Forgot herself and the crackling knees.
From teaching us the alphabets
To show the ways of life she
Burnt herself selflessly, yet
Couldn't learn to let go of things (people)
That hurt her effortlessly.
The swollen legs discomforted her.
She never minded it when
Her elder son came home twice a year-
Made numerous dishes of his choice,
Standing hours in the kitchen.
Relentless household chores,
Our expectations and her toiling;
Unexpected guests and their needs
She did all with a heart complying
And forgot to sit a while, to rest a bit
To wave off a demand and to be indifferent.
Years have passed; the House is in its dotage
Things (people), over time, have changed
But the crackling of her knees is still heard
The same whimper follows; yet
She forgets to sit a while, to rest a bit
To breathe little peace, to heal where it bleeds.
There lingers in my house for years
A crackling sound
As if that's the only testimony of life
In the HOUSE for no living soul but her,
Recognises it anymore.