Sleepless Night: A poem by Nisha Tandon

Decades have passed and today it seems like eons ago

Everyone said Motherhood was not easy, someday I would know

When you entered our lives we were absolutely ecstatic
Your divine face was adorned with a smile that was enigmatic

Delicately you curled your tiny hands around my finger
As if seeking comfort and allowing the feeling to linger

I recall your fearsome cries that often filled the nighttide
As deftly I comforted you and allowed them to subside

We indulged in inexplicable conversations, just you and me
Those sleepless nights remain etched in my memory

Every time you stirred in bed, I sat up with a start
I don’t recall the times I have checked the beats of your heart

On innumerable nights up and down the room I have paced
Patting you to sleep as your angelic face my fingers gently traced

Whenever you fell sick I have hardly slept a wink
You’d instantly flash an innocent smile as tears welled up at the brink

You often drew my attention with your whines whenever I was free
And every time you succeeded you impishly smiled in glee

Often dawn broke and off went the myriad streetlights
Oh! So lonely today, how I miss, those precious, sleepless nights