Nine Lives Poem by Prabhakar Subramaniam

Psalms of surrender
Interceding for the departed
Waiting for his last journey
Seep out with the strong incense
So many pairs of footwear
Have not been seen
Outside this door
For a long time
Visitors slip in and out
Uneasy in the Stranger's presence
The cat seems perplexed
By the rise in footfalls
That skirt him
Misses the master's touch
The blandishments
Mews, throws questions around
And like the old man
Now lying in the glass coffin
Goes unaswered