The Squirrel Poem by Dr Vidya Hariharan

For days I didn't venture out
After grief exploded in my heart.
The world went on without me,
I was enveloped in a fog.
Cocooned in misery, I spent hours
Remembering, overwhelmed,
Helpless, in the clutch of sadness,
Endless dark, empty-eyed,
Drifting in and out of thoughts.

A squirrel snuck in the window
Stared at me wide-eyed,
Stock still, with a biscuit in his paw,
His bright keen glance full of life
Penetrated my shell like an arrow
Piercing my hardened heart.
I wept then for hours
For all that I had lost.