a mother's wait

the eyes are full - black
no light reflections
the plump full face
suddenly thin - haggard
the whispering crowd waits
with the mother
some are softly weeping
wiping unbidden tears
the mother(planted on the sofa)
her eyes still uncomprehending
breaks into sudden wails
(the weeping crowd wails with her
..some offer her low words of solace)
but she soon subsides
into her haggard silence
her eyes look towards
the open door sometimes
(the doorstep littered with
sandals, shoes, and more people)
and sometimes at the
chadar spread at her feet
then back to the door
almost as a mother would
when expecting her child back from school
it was around midnight when we got the news
now it's about 12 noon
what is causing the delay
why isn't he back home yet
her black eyes, full, unreflecting
questions the open doorway

suddenly there is a buzz
he is arriving in 10 minutes
a roll of fresh wails erupts
a little later
someone says, he's come
the mother now tearless, silent
looks expectantly at the doorway
almost as if her 9 year old
would run in with his schoolbag
shouting, "Mother, I am hungry..give me something to eat!"
it begins to rain
the mother looks out of the window
her tears flowing down now
and says, "Look, it's raining"

they carry her 9 year old son in
limp and small, wrapped in white
and lay him on the chadar at her feet

(my neighbour's 9 year old son died on the 14th. i used to chat with him whenever i spotted him. he was a reserved child, but was naughty with his mother, as she would often tell me. he was operated on for a cyst in the brain and died. we are an old neighbourhood. it was a terrible shock for all of us.)