In the valley of dancing clouds,
With the spirit of fleet- footed joy,
Tapping on the green floors of supple leaves,
The surgeon’s scissors proclaimed,
The birth of a hale and hearty babe.
The cool and soothing breeze pampered her,
Sixteen years in that fragrant upland.

Conjugal life cuddled her in that vast and flat terrain,
With the humming of bees around the jackfruit grove,
Under the bold and bright sun.
Motherhood adorned her with four cherubs,
And colossal duty clawed at her young heart.

The Frail body crouched down to sustain the fractured heart,
But destiny pulled her up to the land of pine trees,
Skilled hands fought to shield her off from death’s fierce grab,
But life met its end point and she vanished,
Into the soothing breeze of that fragrant upland,
And pervaded all: the vast and flat terrain.
————- Dr. Fathema Begum

[The poem was written on the death of my mother and it was published in Horizon, The Assam
Tribune, November 10, 2017.]