The mother looked in
The sleeping child breathing slowly
Face framed by sheets in the dark
Softly she said “Wake up Sohrab”
The day’s hope and excitement ahead
The shower ran
Bread was toasted,
The sound of the slowly boiling kettle
The green ribbon tied
Heralding the start of a momentous day
~ ~ ~
As the crowd flowed and moved through,
Everyone a drop in a sea of green
Taking tiny steps ahead
Shoulder to shoulder
The telegraphic words and looks
Transmitting meanings and messages
Through the deafening roar
A nod of reassurance
A tiny smile
~ ~ ~
The crowd grew greater and wider
And in an errant second they were pulled apart,
Separated by the sea,
Tiny and black clad among the trees,
She watched him happily engulfed, foam on the wave,
She lost sight of him
The crowd took him
And she stood there thinking
“This wholesome crowd will protect him”
“He will be safe”
~ ~ ~
She waited
And waited
And didn’t hear the key turning in the lock
And couldn’t hear his familiar footsteps down the hall
And melancholy swiftly turned to despair,
She became a soldier searching
The young man who was last seen wearing a green ribbon
She looked
High and low
Low and low
She asked “Have you seen my boy?”
“He was wearing a green ribbon”
Days
Weeks
A month
~ ~ ~
The news came
Stark and short
And the crowds gathered again
Hailing the end
Carrying gladiola
Wearing black ribbons
~ ~ ~
The mother looked in
The sleeping boy forgetting to breath
The shroud framing his man’s shape
Softly she said “Wake up Sohrab”
Her life’s dread and grief ahead
As the crowd prayed
The smell of camphor and rosewater
Mixed with the sound of sobs and muffled tears
Marked the start of a barren life
The life of the mother without her son.
