The hard-earned ‘A’,
The late-night giggling at a sleepover,
The shy hellos exchanged on the first day of school
That blossomed into everlasting friendships.
The kaleidoscope whirs
Rich memories, colourful crystals
New ones born, new colours splash
What beauty, what lovely pictures!
The kaleidoscope always preserves them
Even when I don’t ask
Isn’t it fun to sip on coffee
And watch them pass by again?
The stark empty, scared streets
The endless wait for an oxygen bed,
The frantic cries of help tweeted and retweeted
That ended at times (too many times) with a terse obituary.
The kaleidoscope still whirs
Too much grey now, an omnipresent monochrome
New ones born, a great many of them
But the grey still persists.
The kaleidoscope always preserves them
Even when I beg it to stop
It’s a terrible burden to taste ashes,
Watching lives burn so young, so soon.
But sometimes the two mix
Colour seeping into monochrome
And I can bring myself
To look into the kaleidoscope again.
Ila Railkar is an MBBS graduate and works as a doctor at Nair hospital, Mumbai. She is a hoarder of books and a lover of history. She can be reached on Instagram at @languagesarelyf