Parting words

Go gently into that night, Ma.

Rest your tired eyes.

Cast off your tattered clothes.

Follow the soft fragrance

Into the garden beyond

The pitch-dark tunnel.

Go peacefully into that night, Ma.

Be a child again

With soft-pinky hands

And a shrilly voice.

Find a new mother

And I shall behold you

In every infant.

Walk happily into that night, Ma

Dark as the Krishna on your altar.

Let go of my hand.

Snap the thread that binds us.

Crash the pitcher of pain

Burdening your head.

Trust the dark, Ma.

Run along to meet Him.

By a limpid pool across the night

Bathed in light

He waits for you.