An ode to a father
By
Col Kanwar Badam, VSM
( This is a small tribute by the author in honor of his father who passed away recently)
Hello
Dear father
Look at us
From your heavenly abode
Bless us
Daily we fold hands
In your rememberance
With open palms
Seek your benevolence
You are no less than God
For us and for us alone
You left us in tearing hurry
Shattered
You broke our hearts
Wish you could have
Waited to give
Us your last wish
Last smile and a pat
On our back
Unfair or fair
Difficult to fathom
Unrepentant we accept
Your will
With grace and poise
What is inevitable
Cannot be avertible
What is ordained
Has to be endured
We begged of you
To oblige us
To stay on
Just for a few more days
Doctors declared you fit
To go home
Something snapped
Nature conspired
You decided to migrate
To another world
Leaving us bruised
When mom left
We sought mom in you
You filled our void
And healed our wounds
No matter how much we tried
To take the place of Mom
In your life
We failed
But you held us
With your cantilever
Firm and resolute
With no Mom and no Dad
Emptiness so vast
A big hole in the sky
Do we have a choice !
But to embrace life
To be plugged
With the memories of
parents’ love, struggles, saga of sacrifices and selflessness
