“A peaceful death” they said in unison
“wish we too die like him,
without any suffering”
from somewhere above
he smiled wryly
if only they knew the horror
of realising this
might be the end
trying to reach out
to near and dear
fingers fumbling
on the key pad
a few wrong calls
before
he finally got through
“come soon, I’m not
keeping too well”
he tried to sound normal
the pain of waiting
as agonising as
the one in his chest
who would take care of her
his wife of over 55 years
she who never got along with anyone
yet could never stay alone
and the finances – moderate
enough for her to get by
he wanted to
call out to her
sitting in the wheelchair
in the adjacent room
unaware of his pain
but the effort
was too much
his voice
too feeble
no sign of anyone
every breath laboured,
gasping, he
struggled to get in air
his head felt light
he had to lie down, but
what if he fell
as if on cue
hands held him up
his neighbours’ were finally there
“what happened –
are you okay?
here – come and lie down”
he could not even
heave a sigh of relief
the pressure in his chest squeezing
tightening
he was helped to bed
“ water , get some water ,quick “
the voices began to fade, oops
he should have deleted
those nude images from his PC
someone shook him, calling out
he wanted to respond, but
the words
remained in his mind
he felt water in his mouth,
did he ask for it
gulp – ah the pain , getting worse ,
was his time really over?
was he dying?
but it couldn’t be
he needed to wait till the wedding –
his grand daughters’
he had to live a little longer
she would never be happy anywhere else
she would never get along with any body
he needed to live
till she went
he tried to open his eyes
he tried to speak
losing control
he felt his eyes roll upwards
the pain reached a crescendo
and suddenly
nothing
A peaceful death?
Elizabeth Kuriakose
He was helped to bed…he should have deleted…!
Th grand daughter’s wedding stretched the bellow of time in eternal wait.
and
nothing returned, but a peaceful death!
Prowling the depth! Exquisite!!
Thank you Tapeshwar. Mighty glad you liked it.
A very intense and poignant work. From a fellow author’s point-of-view ,I would be interested to know if there was there anything in particular which motivated you to write this .
There most certainly was Louis. Between the first call that went out from my father’s mobile phone, and the time he passed away , was a mere 12-15 mins; prompting people to say “He’s so lucky”, “He never suffered much”, “what a peaceful death”, and so on. The first thought that would come to mind was “How do you know”. I kept trying to relive those last 15 minutes through him – and this is what I surmised. Thanks for your encouraging words.
Awesome! A touching ‘portrait’ filled with subtlety and pathos.
Thank you Vijay – you always encourage.
Loved the penning , An amazing intense,poignant poem that speaks of the sensitive side of the poetess along with her poetic prowess to capture the subtle ordeals of life , loved it Elizabeth 🙂
Thanks a ton Maaya. Honoured and humbled.
Poignant, touching and so revealing of the poet’s sensitive heart.Great work dear Elizabeth.
Thank you dear Pramila. Really glad you feel so.
loved the pauses and the eternity spelled in words….may be live the wait,the last moments of so called peaceful death
Thank you Nalini. Honoured.