Warmly tucked in bed, i smile at your
attempts mother,
as your story kindles my imagination,
painting misty images in front of my eyes.
I reach out hesitantly, to your familiar
touch, there cannot be another,
the tinkling of your bangles fade away,i
slumber away fast to my surprise.
In my dreams i see the tall trees mother,
just as you always describe,
touching the sky which is gradually
blotched by inky wispy giants.
I wonder if it could be as easy as this to
predict the rain,
if it were so, you would never have to warn
me again and again.
A loud cry pierces the silence, waking me
up from my trance,
a familiar pitch black now envelops me.
The vivid colors dissolve away, lost into a
dim expanse,
why am i not afraid of the dark, mother;
why cannot my eyes see?
Clinging to the edge of my bed, carefully i
step down,
and with tiny hesitant steps, i follow my
brother's cry,now a smothered sob.
Despite the familiar arrangement ,i almost
stumble, i frown,
the blackness cripples me,as i step out of
my room,my heart does throb.
I remember the time, when i slipped, lying
hurt below the stairs,
sobbing in a corner, more shocked at the
realization of how helpless i was,
rather than the feel of warm blood. They
could not blind me more, my tears.
why can't i see even a flicker, even a
single color, why no cure, no cause?
And then i hear your voice again, soft like
the morning rays must be,
illuminating my dark, gloomy world,
flooding it with light that i have never seen.
I have always known you are beautiful
mother, for that i need not see,
and now i remember the words you always say
to me.
The ships may be safe on the harbor, but
that's not where they are meant to be,
blind i may be, but only as much as i
decide to be.
I can hear,i can smell, i can feel, i can
think,
i have to be strong for you mother, i have
responsibilities from which i cannot shrink.
It might take me much more time, to do even
simple things,
but it is strange, sometimes the surprises
destiny brings.
I find myself in an a hopeless dark, in the
middle of nowhere,
and one day in the middle of that nowhere,
i gradually discover myself.
- Niharika Prasad
