I’ve been thinking of you –
especially
your storytelling in summer
afternoons,
the curtains closed against
the heat of Delhi -
words in the dim room woven
magically,
about those golden crowns
and silver spoons.
I’ve been thinking of you –
your birthday’s soon.
Birthdays persist, stay on in memory
after death, cascading outside
the room
like an endless vine down that
double storey
house. The last monarch, the power and glory
are gone now. The televised
mourning resumes.
I well up a little. Not quite
sure for whom.
I’ve been thinking of you - more has been lost
than just stories. Too much
to count the cost.
 |
| Arundhati Maitra (18.09.1938 - 12.04.2020) |
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that current events are triggering unshed grief... and that is catharsis at work. Blessings to the memory of your mother. YAM xx
Thank you. My entire interest, such as it is, in Henry VIII and other European monarchs was seeded by the stories my mother told/read to me.
DeleteOh yes. Grief triggering more.
ReplyDeleteAnd that cost is uncountable.
I don't think I know anyone who hasn't been affected, in one way or another, by the pandemic and the resultant grief in the last few years...
DeleteThat is so sad. And all the stories, all the experiences in one person's life, gone forever if there is no record.
ReplyDeleteYes, every time an elder passes a whole heap of stories, knowledge and direct, first hand links to the past becomes unavailable to us.
DeleteHi Nila - yes my mother's birthday is next month ... and when thinking of the Queen - I always made sure I was with my Ma for special occasions - which she loved. Today ... the grief is there, but appreciated now for two lives well lived. So much change - I do hope here we can be sensible for our futures - we need to be more humble. Lovely photo - and excellent expressive verse - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteYeah, too much change and not enough thought as to how we as a society will navigate it. No question that we need more humility and respect and compassion for others less fortunate. The Queen as an individual symbolised a code of values that's under attack now all over the world - decency, stoicism, duty, listening to others. In the rush towards toppling all the symbols of the past, what's being devised to replace them is not necessarily better or getting us to a less unequal/less violent space. Glad you enjoyed the verse.
Deleteyes- I've shed tears for the Queen, but she's been a representation of my mother, my grandmothers, etc. I now mourn your mother - your poems, the picture, truly lovely salutes to, no doubt, a wonderful woman. We are in this together - past and looking to the future.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Joanne for your words of comfort. We truly are in this together.
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