My shooting star: A Poem by Sanjukta Ghoshal

I know you're up there mother, watching over me,

A twinkling jewel in the vastness that stretches beyond seas.

Perhaps that's why the midnight sky always felt like home,

Pure bliss befell when I star-gazed from the terrace, alone.

I knew you could see my silent tears of pain,

For you hid behind the clouds and showered me with rain.

I could sense your glee whenever I made you proud,

You glowed more on those nights, a diamond in the crowd.

That fateful night, when they cornered me in the alley,

And the monsters' laughter echoed over my desperate pleas,

I felt your despair reach me, like throes that wreck the heart,

With anger and helplessness that tear a mother's soul apart.

And you fell across the sky, so I could make a wish,

For a savior that came by, to save me in a swish.

I was saved that night, by the shooting star that fell,

But losing you again, mother, the pain was very real.

And every time I see a star, shooting across the sky,

Your thoughts cross my mind, and a warmth flashes by,

And the stubborn me makes a wish so that I can see you again,

I know you're there somewhere, watching over me, all the same.