An Hour Passes

And so, an hour passes . . .

dead body-

only the shadows of leaves

dance on her face 

My wife died--thirteen days back. To be single again, its a strange feeling that after sixty-six years of togetherness, I am all alone. 

Like the River Cauvery that swells in the monsoons then becomes so thin that it seems almost like a drawn line, my family was huge once when my five children were small--kids take wing and slowly my wife and I grew accustomed to being by ourselves. 

My son and my daughter-in-law insist that I will feel miserable in London. I keep telling them that I am ready to go with them. My daughter-in-law says "But papa, you have your temple, your friends here. What will you do there? It's a foreign country papa, try to understand."

How can I tell her that I am scared of staying alone? Won't my grandchildren laugh at me?

sultry morning

the chameleon changes

its colours

Kala Ramesh

~~~

River Cauvery: One of the main rivers running through Chennai, a source of water for the entire region.

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First published in Simply Haiku - Autumn 2005, vol 3 no 3