INSPIRED BY AN EARLY MORNING CALL TODAY:

MAA

The phone rings, shrill and strident,
Out of pitch and discordant,
With the tanpura, that I am strumming,
Poignant ‘Todi’ that I am humming

Who is this, disturbing me so!
“Go away” – I don’t want to know.
In this world of music, let me be,
My poetry, My thoughts, and Me

Reluctantly, I pick up the ‘phone,
”Beta, last night, you were home all alone,
Are you okay, did you sleep alright?
I stayed awake,worried all night”

Impatient words, just bubble up and die,
Washed away by that anxious sigh,
The lump in my throat wont let me speak,
As silent tears flow down my cheek

I shrivel up in guilt, unable to face,
The tenderness and loving grace,
Flowing ceaselessly,night and day
Across the oceans, so far away.

Involuntarily, I gasp, a stinging pain
“Oh Maa” those two words contain
All the words that I have left unsaid
Locked in a ‘to do’ list in my head

They pour out in a torrent- swift and rushing
Tumbling, stumbling, garbled, gushing.
” I miss you Maa, I love you so,
Have not said it as often as I should- I know”

Chasing dreams in Life’s daily grind
We end up leaving what matters, behind
“No more” I silently vow and say
For what I truly have, is only, Today