Comes to the North

Death comes to the North
by inches
Like frostbite
Turning everything black
Starting with the ear
That hears the news.

Far away from Coimbatore,
Where most of the family lives
and dies
In a place called Vanaprastha;
an old age colony,
very popular.

This stage in life
- and the next -
Is for meditation,
concentration,
renunciation -
In the forest, only bare essentials.
You mean
Concentration Camp?

We avoid eating tonight's meal
Lest our lukewarm sentiment
should make the food unpalatable.

Our roots died today;
We go on,
Like headless chickens.

Death comes to the North
at two rupees a minute,
relentless, like the cat
that tries every morning
to enter the kitchen,
warm milk.

Death comes to the North,
Briefly,
a syringeful of anaesthesia,
one prick and you go numb.

Death comes to the North,
then goes away,
flying south for the winter.
It is too cold here
for news of Death to cause a stir.