Coma

every day a little
the grey beeping walls
collapsed
code blue … code blue

final attempt—
five storms in his fragile body
and as I rushed I knew
it was him… papa!

his best-loved doctor’s face pale
brows knitted together…
his words —“call everyone!”

numbed
eleven days of silence
his body breathing through machines
his free spirit already elsewhere

before his final goodbye
soft
wordless
as if he was fading through our fingers

my heart screamed
into the void
voiceless
all battles lost
or maybe
he was giving us time

the dilemma of tubes
the cruelty of choice
keep him bound to wires
or let the stars take him back

the heart gave way
we lost him
or perhaps
God found him—
the healer
the one who grants mercy
where hospitals cannot

years of struggle ended
a door opened
he walked through

and grief flows like a river
ebbs and falls with the moon
it denies
it gnaws
even in dreams

grief makes me a shell
and I do not know
if I shall ever
wake from this coma

|| Shivoham Shivoham Shivoham ||