A Call In The Night Poem by Tanmayi Mukundan

Like a shrill cry in a silent fight,
The phone rang in the dead, one night
Falling off my bed, suddenly with fear
I picked it up as if it was a nightmare

Before I spoke, heard a child’s soft voice so low
“Hello daddy”, she said, “It’s you and I know
Wanted to speak, just once to you
Coz mummy is leaving and I know not what to do”

“She is staring at the stars without a smile
And they say she too will join you in a while
What shall I do with neither of you there
Whom will I hug and who will for me care? ”

“I know you will not answer but now I’ve got go
Mummy is waiting for my last kiss so”
And thus saying, the phone went dead
Blankly in the dark, I went back to bed.

Who was the child for I knew not
Her mummy must’ve seen heaven I thought
But even today, I cry for the child in pain
Waiting every night that she might call again