A soul, tethered, to her heart, our hearth
A young widow, on, life-long pilgrimage
My beautiful mother, was, every ogle’s, worth
This half-man’s, love’s, envy’s, outrage!

“I’ll scrape out, staring, eyes of men
And hide them, where, you could not, find”
“Why don’t you, begrudge, your father, then
Who left, an, unwed bride, behind
Now his son, will turn, half-city, blind”!

How I, owned her, more than, any man
She could, never wean, my love, away
My dreams, suckled her, since time began
Long after, she left, on a, Valentine’s day!

“Just be, a son, never husband, to me
Redeem me, from your, manly wont”
Unrequited, remained, her lost, litany
The Mother, I Know, The Woman, I Don’t!

© 2021 Vikas Chandra