A Chronicle Of A ''Carrier'' Poem by Natarajan Ramaseshan

As a little girl
she carried her
baby brother;
then
pots of water
from distant wells
to quench
dry throats
dehydrated by
hot Indian summer.

As a maiden
she carried
hopes in her
heart and
dreams in her
dreary eyes.

The matchmaking
that followed
made her
carry the
seeds of progeny
and the
millstones of
maternal routines.

In the evening of life
she bears the
burden of her
own self
and the task of
providing a bright future
for her
beloved grandchildren.

She carries and
she carries-but
who cares?
When she
stops-
It's time for others to carry
her.