Death Of A Parent Poem by Rajiv Khandelwal

The whatsApp call
From the neighbour
Informed the death of father

Before I could absorb
Involuntary reflex impulse
Wished, father should have postponed dying
Provided at least a six months extension

For being in a new country
With new job
Survival
Is not easy
On top of it
Covid restricts
Intercontinental movements
Due quarantine rules

Micro moments later
The gloom
Of shock, numbness, denial, sadness
Despair engulfed
And I lived the loss
Felt by a paralytic
Who literally has his body

Yet nothing

The untamed grief
Longed for the sea


Published in Indian Journal: VerbalArt - Vol.4, Issue 2,2021