She Could Not Stay

by Bohdan Sirant. 2013 --dedicated to the memory of Rani Naidu (1950 -1956) of Bangalore, India She was like a shooting star With a blazing tail That having traveled Incomprehensibly far Along its elliptical trail Suddenly lights a starry sky As it streaks across The Milky Way Toward the West And bursts with Sparkling flash and boom Cascading down into a Bright bloom of Startling, blinding Pyrotechnic light That briefly turns Gloomy night Into happy day She lit our lives And made us blessed Brought joy and Made us gay But she could not stay No, she could not stay To sing hymns And lullabies To plant strawberries And cucumbers Pick figs Wind the clocks Ring bells to Wake us From our slumbers To open the blinds And let the blinding bars of light in To help mother Pick, roast and grind Fat and glossy coffee beans She could not stay to Feed the cats and hens

And proud peacocks Or tie the beanstocks Or play leapfrog in the sweet-smelling hay Or draw intricate kolams on the sun-baked red clay Or beat drums And dance jigs With her peculiar vim Or read fairy tales By the Brothers Grimm Or laugh or cry Or hide with us Under the bed covers In our shared dorm Away from strange sounds fleeting shadows and frightening forms cast onto the frosted windows during lightning storms Or help us feed Mulberry to silk worms Or pick cocoons and Cut Dads prized roses Or arrange bouquets of Champaca blossoms Or weave garlands of jasmine Or pet the rabbits And touch their noses Or rearrange the garden hoses Or act in our backyard plays and Strike dramatic poses Or march with the Girl Guides on Republic Day We know not why She was called away But she could not stay No, she could not stay Though we would plead And beg and pray That she would recover And live a long life Meet her handsome prince And live happily ever after And if not Then at least for another year

Or another month Or, please, just another day --And how we bargained To give Or sacrifice If only she were allowed to live! But it did not suffice God would not be swayed She was still called away She left us anyway Like a freed bird thats Forever left the cage And flown her own way But not to join her flock On the outskirts of town But to join Willingly and without delay The long march of spirits Heading off towards The Great Unknown Where shell never age Or be alone No, she would not stay She could not stay