To day is my daughter Soni's Birthday, she is far away in London, I am missing her and I want to reach out to her...my loving tribute to her... *Sigh*
You
I remember when you first stirred within me,You 'kicked', ever so delicately, in my womb
The thrill of your coming to life, a part of me,
The inexplicable joy, I felt, of a mother to be...
I remember when you cried in the middle of the night
Hungry, groping, clutching and then suckling, eagerly.
The first steps you took, ran quickly and then fell, I
Rushed to rescue, brushing invisible dust off your knees...
I remember the tearful goodbye, I sent you to school to study
How I would get up before dawn at one o'clock in the dark
And start on an eight hour-long journey, dot at two o'clock,
To be able to reach sharp, at twelve noon...But invariably,
Either due to traffic jams or a minor breakdown of the car,
I would be late often by an hour, and you would be pacing
Up and down, waiting impatiently for me;
and when I climbed up the hill,
my weariness of the long drive would disappear,
When I saw two teary eyes light up with joy,
my heart gushed with motherly feelings.
With open arms you would rush to me,
And dissolve in my embrace;
my heart would leap up with joy
And fill with tender feelings...
That was you!
I remember when I fell sick and we were alone,
only you and me,
You were only four years old, and my temperature 104 degrees.
Our kind neighbour would send us food, you would bring
the tray of food up to my bedroom, carefully, trying
not to trip on the stairs, carrying the tray up most nimbly...
and then you washed up the dirty dishes, and insisted
on carrying them yourself, and return to the kind lady,
Everyday...
That was you!
Then when I met with an accident, you would insist
on cooking for me, and with your tiny eight year old hands,
feed me, ...
That was you!
At every bend and turning in my life,
you have been with me,
and tough tiny and fragile,
you looked after me...
In your loving ways you filled my heart,
And my chest swelled up with pride!
When I saw your kind heart...
You have been a pillar of strength for me,
Giving me the will to live!
My anchor in my life!
That was you!
That is you!
That you will always be!
My dear daughter, Soni!
Happy Birthday!
Love, Mama
Author: Zoya Zaidi
Aligarh (UP), India
Copyright©: Zoya Zaidi
Image: 'Fun with Soni' © Zoya
Poetry by Zoya Zaidi
Read 989 times
Written on 2007-04-08 at 09:28
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