அம்மா

Not a day goes past without my remembering my mother. I miss her presence in my life in many ways. And though this is an emotion we associate with our children - "I wish to watch my child grow" - it is one I feel for my mother. I wish I could have watched her grow old.

This was written for her in Sydney circa 2003.




Here in this land
Far from where your ashes lie
your very spirit lies
An old man speaks to me of the dead.

Of lying down besides a mother's
spirit in the night
and then returning to the world
becalmed and wiser.

Through the expanse of time
and distance, I hear often
your spirit, a slow murmur
a soft touch in the night.

In my hours of sorrow
In my hours of joy
You return me to the world
becalmed and wiser.