By: Rimli Bhattacharya

Death exists,
Though she denied it,
In front of her lay the lifeless soul of her son,
He was buoyant day before yesterday.

But today –

Death exists,
The mother in her wailed,
Her world has gone cold,
Her face hollow and tormented.

“Come back son.”
She whispered in those exanimate ears.
He would not as he is resting,
His burning spirit brought to an eternal rest.

Death exists,
She struggled to believe,
Her limbs numb,
She felt like those dead grass
Pricking her back like tiny needles.

She tried to open her swollen eyes,
Gasping for breath she chocked on her own dry tongue.
“Come back son.”
She whispered in those exanimate ears.

Smog descended her eyes,
Her bony fingers stretched for the lifeless body.
The cold carcass,
“Come back son.”
She whispered in those exanimate ears.

Realization dawned.
Her son was dead.
The painful truth had struck her,
She slowly joined her son.

The rope she tied around her neck,
The noose asked “Are you sure?”
Smiling she looked at her son for one last time.

Her heart stopped,
Then the final relief,
Darkness.

As the mother and son lay covered in the twill of death.