Mona Bedi
The Other Side
On a chilly winter day we three sisters lead dad’s funeral procession. We have no brother so it’s up to us to perform all the rituals.
Together we light the pyre. Soon woodsmoke merges with the January fog. Burning wood flakes disperse in the winter air. Strangely, the heat is comforting in the extreme cold. The whole process is tiresome for many. Some relatives whisper in small groups. There is no dearth of pretend tears around.
I whisper to my husband, “Please make sure to have an electric cremation for me with only my nearest family in attendance.”
clear summer night
each star has a story
to tell ...
between now and then
just a single breath
About the Author
Mona Bedi is a medical doctor in Delhi, India. She has published two books of poetry, they you and me and dancing moonlight, and her haiku and senryu have been published in Failed Haiku, Haiku in Action, The Haiku Dialogue, cold moon journal, tsuri-doro, and many others. She lives with her husband, two children, and a dog.