To An Anxious Mother Poem by Madhabi Banerjee

At last into your arms I came
When you bore me, very anxious,
You were so alarmed at that monstrous moment
Fearing that god might take me.
Though your thinking was I would be a son
For god’s wish I was born as a daughter.
Everyone watched in silence
To see if the birth was going well
Everyone washed their hands to be able to receive
The one who come from heaven
But I emerged into your lap,
Where you shelter me so long.
At once I drew my first breath
At once your eyes filled with pearl drops.
The first kiss was my granny’s.
She took me at once to a fresh room
Everyone was forbidden to enter.
Because everyone smelt bad
Only I all fresh, breathed gently,
Wrapped in my napkins.
But my grandmother like a madwoman
Looking again and looking again
Whether the flies came at me
And mosquitoes harried me.
God also watched over me
And who was my old granny ‘s friend.