My Amma

Lying here in the dark

I await the sandman's depart

So my eyes can close in peace

And me to finally drowse to sleep

The door opens and light pours in

I find her standing frail and slim

I beg her to lie down with me

And tell me stories so I can sleep

She talks of greenery all around

Of schools and students all round the town

And how she was sent to school run by nuns

And how she resembled a walking, talking bun

It's not hard to see the picturesque landscape around me

And smell the wet greenery from rain not long before

She had wished to send her children there

But was turned down by her husband's fear of sending them there

Now I lie here all alone

You have departed to a happier place

Where your husband and you run through meadows of green

It feels as if you are here next to me