A17 The Disappointed Crowd Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Next day, the people
Waited for the miracle
What the Dean asked for
As a proof, to test her.

On the demands of the Dean,
Bernadette was too keen.
And informed the Lady first,
On what he wanted as a test.

His demands, the Lady heard
But she kept them aside,
And showed some signs to her
For cleaning her face with water.

Where can she go for water?
Was it to the brook or river?
But the Lady pointed out
A place very near about.

Rock, rock everywhere,
But not a dropp of water,
Found anywhere near
In rocks she searched for.

There she found a place,
With some green grass,
And under the wet mud
Some water she traced.

With that muddy water,
She washed thereafter,
Her hands and face,
That blackened her face.

The Lady signed her
To drink some water,
And eat the grass handful,
That proved to be herbal.

The same, when she did,
Her throat, it choked.
She vomited it out
As she couldn’t eat.

She kissed the ground,
And moved all around
In her ecstatic mood
Unaware of what she did.

Some ladies wept for her.
Others did criticize her,
Most of them said.
“She has gone mad.”

To the authorities
It was a success
As they declared her,
A cheat of the first order.

Louise cried and felt,
Her daughter was lost
In this sickening affair,
To be treated by a doctor.