Four Words

a poem by Vikash

I close my eyes again
And witness your smile.
The resulting shivers dart down
My body in waves
Like the tremors of the tide-
That rises and falls
With precision and intention.

I close my eyes again…
And again-
To see your smile.
Again and again
I close my eyes,
To remember your smile.

My heart races
As I feel you
In my arms.
The excitement flutters
Like the butterflies that flee
From the disturbed serenity
Of the fields of sanctuary.
My heart races as I hold you again…
As I witness your smile.

I open my eyes,
Amidst the rush of despair
And swelling aching
That riots with each heartbeat,
I yield to this moment again
As the tears canter towards an eruption.

Silence loses its plutonic hold
And the sobbing intensifies…
A vulgar, draining
Ambush of emotion.
Echoes and vagrant memories
Swiftly amplify
The siege of isolation
That demolishes my spirit.

This rhythm of remembrance
Continues to orchestrate
A crushing symphony
That leaves me
Like a flower
Withering away
From the winds of change.

Your name slowly,
Arduously finds its way
To my lips.
And in a final,
Defiant breath
I voice your name…
“Anjana”

This procession concludes
As the agony slowly
Subsides when I hear you
Call for me.
I see you before me…
Again

You repeat four words
That intensifies my loss.
Four words that I have ached
To hear everyday
Since you left this world-
“I love you, Daddy “
And I surrender to the memories
That ease this brutal reality-
I can never hold you again.
You repeat these four words…
Again and again
And I find the strength to continue
Again and again.