Last (W)rite

    by Vinita Agrawal

Lying on a hospital bed,

I recall a friend’s

cheerful advice:

whenever I’m down with a cold,

I just have bowls of my favorite hot broth

and feel so much better.

But I am not down with a cold…

Still, can I have some of that hot broth please,

some of those years too

in which we ruffled college roads

and found lightweight joy at every step?

I change sides to face the window,

outside sighs are clouds

tethered to sunshine, and

an angled purple bougainvillea branch

nods sleepily in the afternoon breeze.

On my back now, I

stare at the white ceiling

and feel the lump in my throat,

going giddy under the whirring fan,

ten little fingers ten little toes,

two little ears and one little nose -

a fuzzy brain recites kid wisdom,

and one heart, I add silently,

packed with people I love;

there’s a world inside

waiting to be lived all over again

if they let me sit up today.

There’s so much living to do

on a terminally ill hospital bed.

© 2010 Vinita Agrawal

Vinita Agrawal has been a freelance writer and researcher for the past 15 years.  Her articles, stories, poems and features have been published in academic journals, casebooks, newspapers, magazines and websites.  Some of the prominent publications featuring her work are Femina, The Free Press Journal, Savvy, Marwar, Hobson’s Review, IRMA and ICPI journals, Sulekha, Babel, Kritya, Muse India, and indianwildlife, indianwriters and more.

Born in Bikaner, India she was educated in Kolkata and did her Masters in political science from Vadodara where she was awarded the UGC scholarship.  She is a life member of the Indore Intach Chapter.  She believes that writing is the best form of creative expression.  She resides in Indore, India with her husband and son.