by Pratibha Verma
(Shimla, India)
In rainy season
Rainwater was in the entire room
My mom always told me
The tree behind the house had
broken the roof
That’s why ………………
She was upset with the broken house
By this story
She always hid her pain,
I used to listen to her
with the same enthusiasm
that shows how she hated the rain
One night she felt drops of water
she woke up and put a bucket
below the roof hole,
A few drops falling through a roof
few disappeared in the pole
I said I hate this rain
I wish someone to stop this
She whispered in the corner,
We need rain for crops
both were hanging
between bread and good sleep.
I can see an incitement
In her eyes for a new house
Whenever she felt broken
For a shabby house