My Mother-In-Law, A True Hero!

The poet speaks of how her mother in law had taken as a son a baby orphaned in a disaster, despite having lost everything herself – now the poet’s husband!

All seemed lost, her world desolate
Benumbed, she watched, as her fate
Twisted in a downward spiral
Into the abyss of misery; almost surreal
Was the way her life’s foundations were shaken
Every shred of normalcy had from her been taken
Leaving her stuck in a state of limbo
No silver lining in sight, no place to go
In a state of shock she spent several days
The world around her clouded in a haze…
So wrapped was she in her grief she had not realized
This was a disaster where everyone around her had died…

She was shaken out of her shell-shocked stupor
By a faint cry from somewhere around her
Louder it grew, evolving into a lusty wail
Of an infant; she forced herself up to follow the trail
A baby she found; miraculously unharmed
Lying on the rubble, his face red and warm
She picked him up, he looked up at her
In eager anticipation for someone to douse his hunger

She was brought back to reality from listlessness
Self-preservation emerged from some deep recess
She knew the safety of the infant she had to ensure
She had to gather all strength to endure
The ravages of fate in the wake of this disaster
With a single aim in mind- to be the protector
Of this innocent life; she had to venture out
To seek help, she knew that without a doubt
She walked for miles with the hungry infant
Fearing he would collapse at any instant
Until she met some rescuers who had by then
Given up hopes of finding live men or women
At the verge of physical exhaustion were the duo
Her determination to keep the child safe had made her go
Thus far, only to realize that fate had taken away
Similarly, her family and the child’s parents that day
As she realized this, she had an epiphany
Making her decide to adopt that child legally
She had not wanted children, she thought ruefully
In her previous life, but now she was attached to this baby truthfully

She started her life from scratch, bent, not broken
Facing flashbacks of the disaster, recurring demons
What gave her strength was her beautiful boy
Raising him brought to her infinitesimal joy
She brought him up as a fine young lad
Never made excuses for the tragedy that she had
Survived, never repeated her story of resilience
Until in their lives I made an appearance
When she welcomed me in her fold as a daughter-in-law
She told me her unembellished story, leaving me in awe
I have for her strength respect immense
She is a hero when seen from my lens!

Published here earlier.

Image source: pixabay

Shuchita Gupta

I am a woman, a physician, a mother and an aspiring writer rolled into one.

Learn More