This is a poem I wrote a few months back, a dear companion/Friend had passed away, losing a long battle to cancer. Two years ago I attended her wedding, She belonged to the Hindu faith and got married to a guy who was a Roman Catholic. Her wedding was according to the Cristian rituals but her last rites were performed according to Hindu Faith. A Colour was common in both..
They wear white for marriages,
for me it was just the colour I saw people wearing
when the funeral pyre was to be set on fire.
Those are just not the kind of thoughts I should have
especially on occasions like these,
maybe the hall was too tight, I could hardly breathe?
maybe there were too many people,
maybe the ground was shaking beneath my feet
maybe sparrow nested on the ledge of my window back home,
forgot to feed its Children today
someone give the baby birds few damn worms
I might have said that too loudly, few eyes stared at me
Maybe, it was just the bourbon whiskey.
Anytime now, she would come dressed in her all-white wedding gown
as white as clouds,
as snow,
as white as the bedsheets she was wrapped in,
next to me a few days ago
kissing me, mumbling/whispering something,
and Jim Morrison played on TV…..
………..This is the end, beautiful friend
this is the end, my only friend
the end of our elaborate plans
the end of ev'rything that stands
the end……
….as everyone stood up for the bride, I left
left, to feed those damn baby birds
the sparrow won’t be coming back now
the sparrow was dressed in her all-white wedding gown
waiting to be set on fire
as white as….
~ HS
