A Year Of Missing

the clock hasn't ticked 

even once,

for a year,

leaving an eerie silence,

a silence that's louder than death,

almost telling the missing.

it used to tick,

relentlessly, refusing to rest,

just like you, Bapa

but now it lay motionless, 

for a year, now

as if too tired to get up

just like you, Bapa!

our stories 

broke off suddenly, 

incomplete, 

without us prepared for it.

my hands still try to reach out to you,

so often, Bapa,

to call you,

to share little joys,

or, when life is unfair.

your words were powerful,

so were your silences,

when tears built up,

heart turned heavy, or feet were tired.

when you'd wave from the gate,

hiding your loneliness,

and your desires,

Bapa why didn't you ask us once,

drop even a hint,

to stay longer,

and we'd have gleefully obeyed.

why didn't you give a hug,

why didn't you spend

a bit longer,

before that last time we left?

you haven't been away

even for a moment,

a single day, the entire year,

just that you're missed

a bit more, today,

just that eyes became moist,

a bit more, today.

© sashikant mohanty