A CHILD’S PRAYER
SULOCHANA RENGACHARI
Are you really gone Dad?
Must I say good-bye forever Dad?
To think that you will never call me ‘paappaa’ any more!
To think that you’ll not chide me mockingly any more!
That your consoling words will not caress my heart any more!
That you cannot save it from the kicks of the sordid word any more!
It is unbearable Dad!
It is excruciating agony Dad!
I have a prayer Dad.
If you should be born again
And get a daughter like me again
Please don’t shower your affection on her.
Do not engulf her in your divine love
Only to drop out suddenly
And leave her in the deepest depths of despair.