Just one more?

Smuggling chocolates from
The fridge,
“One for me and
One for you, grandma.”
I remember you used to cook up
Tales to starve out my guilt,
Now these memories
Alone console me.

Nibbling the chocolate,
I start solving my maths;
I remember you helping
My sister…
…How eagerly I had waited
To be in her shoes –
A future without you
Seemed too distant to grasp.

Once in a while
Your old books come my way,
Perfuming the room
With nostalgia.
I remember the smell of your home,
My home too…
A home I, perhaps
Shall never see again.

I remember all the times
You forced me to write…
The most fervent encouragement
I’ll ever receive.
And now, I don’t know
If you can see me from way up there,
Finally heeding your words
…when it’s too late.

Never coming home from school
And arguing as to why you should feed me,
Never running into your open arms again,
Never watching TV with you again,
Never ever seeing you again…
It happened too fast…
I still remember pestering you
For ‘just one more story’,
Now, for the last time, I ask you
Please? Just one more?”