Achhan

A thousand   deaths we died
While growing up
In    fear of your death
But achha, when you really died
We didn't die with you.

The hands that fed
The chest that cradled
The smile that supported
The love of a lifetime
And they burned you right in front of us.

We watched, cried and turned into ashes
Communist and compassionate
You lived and died
Celebrations ceased
New year is just a new calendar.

Life with you and life without you
We divide ours into two
Nothing happens achha
A plan to paint our house, new curtains
You are not there to select colours

The new colours may expunge
Your loving touch from the walls forever
A step ahead
And somewhere we stop
Waiting for you to select, argue and calculate.