View of Death

by Nadeem Tusneem

It was a day of cutting sadness and endless sorrow.

Outside, a grayish mist under a somber sky hid a street,

Leading to a gentle home, whose door I peered through,

To catch a glimpse of the turmoil coming from within;

A home once packed with energy and vigor

Now flooded with melancholic rivers of tears;

I stared at the ghostlike face of the woman lying on the cot;

A woman, once full of life, now as cold as a winter's chill,

Surrounded by those who admired and loved her;

The aura around her sending rays of sadness into my heart,

Unearthing from my childhood, the precious memories of her

And as I thought and thought in a mindless trance

I saw the Angel of Death bowing before her,

Tears coming out of his lustrous eyes

That life so precious as hers, he had to take

"Please, don't take her," the words whispered out of my mouth;

But he managed to bring himself together and flew away

Taking her soul into the highest heavens in the sky

My heart sunk, as tears flooded out of my eyes

And my eyes simply stared into the dismal sky.

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