I am unhappy,
Alone,
Lost in past
And distant from the present.

Ten years have passed
Since I last saw her alive
And that memory
Is branded into my mind.

I stood there,
Observing the doctors
Attend to a woman,
Who was mortally burnt.

I watched them
Try to save her.
I pitied her
As I wondered what happened.

I stood there alone
Listening to the doctors sigh
As realisation
Rode in on the back of a snail.

A stampede of emotional strains
Tore me from my gaze
As I realised who I was
Looking at.

Alone,
I watched the doctors
Prepare to move her
To another hospital.

I arrived at the specialized hospital,
How?… I will never know.
I waited and waited and waited
Till the doctors could tell me more.

No lies,
No medical terms…
She won’t survive.
And I walked in to see her.

She called earlier
To say Hello.
She sounded so sad,
I was too busy to talk for longer.

I was afraid to hold her,
Third degree burns
Covered her
Almost completely.

I stayed up,
Praying,
Believing and hoping
For the next three days.

I came home.
Home,
Filled with many people,
So many strangers.

Bereaved,
I covered myself
With a veil of isolation
As the funeral concluded the week.

Ten years have passed.
I remember the events
Too clearly
As I wait…
For someone…
To take-
This life
That I have forsaken.