
His wife
His partner
His soulmate
Sometimes they quarrel
That’s part of the game
They make up
One again
The children grow
An engineer
An MBA
They want to fly
Like their peers
They find their work
In foreign lands
And they settle
In foreign lands
In some other part
Of the globe
His wife
His companion
His partner
His soulmate
Whose never
Left his side
Except twice
When his grandchildren
We’re born
Then she’d gone
To those foreign lands
To help her kids
Raise their children
—————-/
To his house
Is she
Now she’s old too
One day collapsed
In the foreign land
Where she’d gone
To help raise
Her grandchild
I’m not coming
I prefer
My own bed
It was all over
In a couple of hours
The funeral
Medical bills
The maid
The nurse
The doctor
To be paid
—————-
Is worsening
———–
He has enough
He’s insecure
The medical bills
They’re going up
What if there’s
A hospitalisation
The maid
Wants a raise
No he says
I can’t afford
He’s not the same
He was before
A generous soul
Now that
His money is not
In one place
————–_
No one bothered
Not our business
They all say
We are all
Good people
Not our business
To intervene
Years drag on
The buildings disintegrate
Cost a ton
But in five years
The cracks are back
With a vengeance
————–
Then they’re gone
———-—–
One more time
Now at last
His house is full
————-/
He didn’t have
A major vice
Did no harm
To anyone
He raise his voice
He never missed
His church contribution
He’d attend all
The society meetings
Meekly sat
And got back home
Never spoke up
Others will
He said
I’m not the one
To create trouble
The building new
Will go up
When God wants it to
Never gave alms
All fakes they are
He said
God will
He saw the drunk
The municipality will
Take care of him
God will
They pester
Better not to
Entertain them
God will
Theirs palms open
Their sorrowful eyes
In the heatOf the sun—————
Some kind soul
Will take them
To Mother Theresa’s
God will
Take care of them
———–
The floods
The famine
The earthquakes
He would give
His widower’s mite
A fifty
Or a hundred
God will
Take care of them
————–
He went to church
Every Sunday
Or Saturday evening
His religious obligation
Fulfiled
Don’t want to get
Into controversy
No involvement
With the community
————-
A good husband
A good father
A good neighbour
A God fearing man
A good Catholic
————-
And joy
A life well lived