A Recall All Over Again Poem by Bashyam Narayanan

A recall all over again
Long back this day
Fifty five years ago
A Friday it was
Early morning
I was in a pretentious sleep
Overhearing the news
Conveyed by my eldest cousin
That my mother was no more
Who was admitted in a local hospital
For delivering her child
I did not show signs of having heard this
Lying in bed preparing for reacting
Got up but saw no one around
Silently walked off from the hall
Stepped down from the house
Walked towards home
In the slowest pace
With no mind to meet any one en-route
Managed to reach home
Where my mother’s mortal remains
Waited for me
I did not notice who all consoled me
And many did not have much to say
But made attempts to give me a
Comforting hug, which also failed
I did not cry
As I did not know what to cry for
The one hand that reduced a bit
Of my discomfort
Was that of my uncle, mother’s younger brother
I am forced into this recalling
Because I miss her much more
That any time before
I need her for sharing
Not necessarily my present issues
But to share with her
My understanding and observations
Of some of the religious scriptures
Which I happened to
Pick up recently
My belief on rebirth suggests
That my mother would have been born
And now that person, he or she, would be
Fifty five years old
How much I wish that
That person gets the total memory
Of the previous birth
Reaches me out
And listens to my talking about this
He or she may be relieved of this
Birth-before memories
Immediately after that
And go back to his or her present living
What a wish
On a remembrance day