By Reena R
Taking Over
She lay still on the kitchen floor.
He came to see why dinner wasn't announced.
The girl twirled in a new dress in her room; the door locked from inside.
The boy, intent on his laptop, won game after game.
Nothing moved for a while,
no one too.
It made little difference to them
and none perhaps to her.
Inconvenient as death is, yet it is a full stop.
An illness kills time, money and patience,
especially when there is no love.
The kitchen was washed,
Prayers chanted,
a homely enough photograph found, garlanded.
The next week, a maid cooked their favourite biriyani,
stepping over the memory of the fallen body.
Reena R. lives in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. She has co-edited two anthologies and is a practicing poet.
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9 replies on “Taking Over”
This is such a sad and powerful piece. And sadly it is the truth.
Thank you so much Firdaus! Means much coming from you
So powerful yet a string of poignancy holds the lines…
Wonderfully composed
Thank you very much for your kind comment, The feedback is so encouraging, Much love Sonali.
Powerfully portrayed. Sad with elements of pathos.
Yes Sir, Thank you so much!
Such a beautiful poem with big concerns.
Thank you Sir!
Reblogged this on BUTTERFLIES OF TIME- A CANVAS OF POETRY and commented:
Thank you Mitali Chakravarty and Borderless Journal. Glad to be a part of the July issue