I couldn’t locate her pulse
Her body still warm
I couldn’t believe she was gone, yet
My eyes began to swarm
They took her away on stretcher
I followed her in a daze
I could not comprehend death
I was young and in raw phase
They put her on the pyre
Fire totally consumed her
There was nothing but ashes
That handful thing was my mother
I brought the ashes back home
Spread them in her beloved garden
I knew as flower she would bloom
And rid my heart of painful burden
~Sudha Dixit
Bangalore, India