She could venture to smile again

albeit after a lapse of fortnight

partial paralysis had distorted

contours of her face

her shrunken lips could not deliver

her sorrows and plight

was she to be blamed

for her debilitated state

or fate played truant

and she was ripped apart of her prized possessions

left to fend for herself?

I let out a sigh

my blank looks conveyed my miserable state

the treating physician gaped at me

and then made some wild guesses

the moment was so delicate

I proclaimed to be her kin

uttered this huge blatant lie

consciously  committed a crime

else…. she would have collapsed that day

as a tenant

this much I could do to assuage her dismay.

~ Sujata Dash

Bhubaneswar, India