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| Image Courtesy: www.onestoppoetry.com |
her mother's burning pyre
when the heat of the flames paint her skin
she knows she has ceased
to be a daughter
she remembers a whisper
from a dream chant
too late is never too far away
she sees regret
walk in quietly and stay© 2011 Padmavani Karkera
P.S. My mother is alive and well. I thought I will add this note as readers are assuming the protagonist here is me. It isn't. But thank you for the empathy and feelings you have shared so generously.
Warm regards
Padmavani
so sad...we buried my MIL about 2 years back and i had to deliver the funeral...one of the hardest things i ever did
ReplyDelete*sigh*
ReplyDeleteThe kind that stays is the hardest kind, I think.
Yes, that transition to adulthood is complete when one's mother is no longer there. Regret is all you can do, and remember.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I lost my dad when I was 10 and it still hurts. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I lost both my parents in the last three years.
ReplyDeleteBrian, Shay, Joy and Mystic Margarita, thank you for dropping by and letting me know.
ReplyDeleteMystic Margarita, thank you for your empathy, but my mother is alive and well. This poem was about regret and how it is often too late and too little. I am sorry about you losing your dad at such a tender age...
Oh, I am so sorry about my faux pas. You're right, by the time we realize our parents' true worth, it's often too late.
ReplyDeleteso very happy to know your mother's well.
ReplyDeleteHi Padmavani, I loved the last two lines in particular, "she sees regret walk in quietly and stay" because I think this is indicative of every parent/child relationship when it has passed. This varies by degrees, but that element is still there. Lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteNo worries Mystic Margarita. Thank you Leah! Hello Elizabeth, yes, some regrets fade away with grief as it loses it's intensity. Some regrets don't and we may learn to live with them or we may not.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for dropping by.
Cheers
Nice one, Padma. My mother is 82 and it's difficult to come to terms with her increasing frailty ...I can see the gradual change in our relationship too...
ReplyDeletethere are lots of things we start to regret when it's already too late..beautiful poem padmavani
ReplyDeleteSo happy to hear your mother is still alive.
ReplyDeleteRegrets in life can eat up our souls. That's why we should always make an attempt to put things right (if possible), before it's too late.
Very nicely done, Padmavani
The regrets of things we said, things we did not deliver are expressed in a loving memory. This is very beautiful to remind us not to have those regrets. Thank you and I hope you Mother's Day was happy
ReplyDeletebless your mom.
ReplyDeleteCorrine, thank you for sharing. Claudia, thank you. Glad you liked the poem. Andy, very true, one should try one's best to do the right thing. Caroline, thank you for dropping by. Promising Poets Parking Lot, thank you.
ReplyDelete