I remember,
The way you would smile,
When I gave you
An imaginary cup of tea
From my world famous restaurant.
I remember,
How you’d frown
When I told you
I’d gotten good grades in a test,
Because
You’d just reply that
Four people could’ve passed with
Those marks.
I remember,
The tears in your eyes
Out of possible pride I suppose
When you were on my
Sixth grade
PowerPoint Presentation
As I spoke about
You –
My inspiration.
I remember,
The way you’d yell
At me
For reading books
Whose pages were numbered
Until the hundreds
Because you knew
I wouldn’t sleep until I’d
Finished it all.
I remember,
Your sigh of relief
When the guests finally left,
Your faint hum of an
Age old Melody,
When you plucked
The Parijatha flower,
Your annoyance
When my sisters and I brought
The house down
Screaming,
And
How happy you looked
When you saw us
Sit together for dinner.
And I remember all this,
Thatha,
Because you don’t anymore.
As you sit on your bed,
A smile on your face
As I enter the room,
You no longer remember
My name.
But don’t you worry
I’ll remember enough
For both of us
And I’ll remember
You
How you used to be
Before this dreaded disease
Dominated
Your life.
And all that
I remember
Is untouchable,
Guarded fiercely by
Memories
That have shaped me,
Because while
I sometimes forget,
About the old you
As I see only
A husk of your former self,
Thatha
I love you,
And
I’ll never forget that.
Written by Siri Rajanahally for MTTN
Feature Image by Shreya Bangar
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.