When I Look at My Nonagenarian Father

When I look at my nonagenarian father,

I am quite amazed rather,

With many a remarkable feature,

He is doubtlessly a great teacher,

His remarkable will to live

Does all of us a valuable lesson give

That it is will that does a human drive,

It is tenacity that makes one live and thrive,

As a superhuman effort he makes to get up and walk,

At his tremendous courage I simply baulk,

As he sits still for hours on end,

I wonder which way his thoughts wend,

As day after day into vacancy does he stare,

It is perhaps age that he does defy and dare,

As through his long silences his energy does he conserve,

And that is perhaps how nature does him preserve,

I wonder what goes through his mind,

What it is that to life does him still bind,

As he neither says anything nor does ask,

Fathoming his needs also becomes a task,

As day after day towards him I perform my filial duty,

That in itself seems to become a thing of rare beauty,

The inexpressible bond between parent and child,

To put it in words ever so mild,

Makes me keep an eye on him

As a mother does upon her vulnerable child,

As my spouse stands solidly with me in all this,

To thank and bless her I never miss,

Sometimes his total lack of expression of any love or blessing,

I find quite testing and depressing,

I often feel like a robot running after him,

But I don’t let that my commitment dim,

His long life is a test for him and for us,

So why create any fuss,

It is God’s will that will be done,

To question it I am no one,

May be my father’s mind into another world has already wandered,

As he can probably see the ship of his life in this world foundered,

That leaves us to do towards him our bit,

And act as responsibly and lovingly as our God deems fit!

Arun Bhagat

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