Mona Bedi

The Beyond

I am sad. Since losing my sister, I have withdrawn from the outside world. Most days, I sit alone in the society garden, quietly observing the birds and animals around me. A squirrel hopscotches across the soft lawn. Nearby, a tiny bird I have been noticing lately frolics around the birdbath.



One afternoon, an older woman comes and sits beside me on the park bench.



“How are you, dear?” she asks gently.



I study her weathered face. “Do I know you?” I ask. 
“I knew your sister,” she says. After a pause, she adds, “Do you know that those who have departed often keep visiting their loved ones in some form until their loved ones stop mourning them? Sometimes they return as a bird or an animal you have never noticed before. Don’t be sad. Celebrate their life and let them go.”



I sit quietly, absorbing her words. Then my gaze drifts to the tiny bird splashing in the birdbath. It has been there every day since my sister passed away.



this recurrent dream

of falling into an abyss

how long
will it take to put together

scattered p i e c e s of me

---

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.

---