Longing

Longing to Hear my Voice, she Tells her son To ask me To call her. Her son Dutifully Conveys Her message To me. He knows And she knows I'm recovering From a bad flu And am still Down with a Nasty cough That pricks me While talking.... My voice needs Plenty of rest and I deliberately avoid Talking to give it rest. She tells her son She'll keep it short, Not talk much but She really needs to Hear from me To know more about My recovery. I used to often call her But in the recent past, I've shied away from Calling her, lest she Hears my dreadful Coughing and starts Worrying about me. At 79, she's already Beleaguered by an Ailing, ageing body. By calling and coughing, I didn't want to add to Her quotidian worries. But she asked And her son asked, So I called, though I tried not to cough, But my broken voice Revealed it all.... I pacified her That I'm better Than before, But she said: Mamoni, you Are still not well. Having heard my Healthy voice before, She could grasp the Brokenness of my Throaty voice, and As always, I could Feel the care in my Mother-in-law's Caring words and Comforting voice. I know she'll keep Worrying about me Till I fully recover and This annoying coughing Leaves me, but at least, I was able to satisfy her Longing to hear me..... (Last month, after returning from his annual visit to India, my husband went down with flu. While nursing him back to health, I caught the bug as flu is very contagious. Since then, it's been quite a rough ride for me with all sorts of adverse symptoms. After weeks of discomfort, I'm now on the road to recovery.)