It is that day again,
When I set a special bouquet
Before the frame,
Light a candle,
Guide its flame
To his face–
Watch love glimmer
In those eyes—love
That nothing can efface.
Memories tread in
Like some howling wind
Into that emptiness within
I could never fill—
They wring my heart, crush my soul.
I cannot cajole
A solitary smile for him.
All those years
Of bottled-up emotions
Rush out at once in blinding tears.
In the hush,
The window rattles,
Upon the mantle the candle crackles,
It’s flickering flame flares and sparkles.
A sudden draft? It catches my hair,
Its whistle rents the air—and then
The door creaks open and closes again.
Nandita Author 