This poem was written shortly after watching my son suffering petit mal fits in hospital as a result of contracting meningitis. That was in 2000—he is now a grown man with a family of his own.

Tom’s Dance

It was so beautiful, graceful
Watching, mesmerised, the movement
Of your arms, hands, fingers
Delicate, as exquisite as a Kathak dancer.

And your tiny face
Smiling, utterly enchanted
In another place and time
Far removed from the surrounding reality.

Impossible to reconcile
Those moments of bewitching beauty
With the violent storms in your head
I wished I too could be in your other-world.

In those small moments,
The pure pleasure on your face
Moved me to weep in sheer relief,
At the comfort and joy etched in your smile.

Endless hours, watching as you
Gripped tight the gossamer link
To this life, with astonishing courage;
A quality undimmed many storms later.

© Sunil Angris. All rights reserved.