• La Pieta

Your gentle feet and tiny toes,

Comforted my lap once upon a time,

My arms stroked you blissfully then,

For you, I hummed a calming rhyme,

But now my arms hold a muted song,

Of your silence, bestowed on me by time,

Today, you lie on the same old lap,

Indeed, lifeless and inert, yet so sublime. 1

I will keep on recalling you as a toddler,

Henceforth, they will look at you as a leader,

Your cries were calmed by my caress then,

For them, now you are going to be the healer,

You rehearsed whatever I voiced, said, sang,

They will find knowledge in you, a teacher,

Today, while I weep, detached from my soul,

They will find peace, blessed by a preacher. 2

You were composed, unmoved by the ordeal,

But so much concerned about my well-being,

You knew who all sinned against you,

Still, you said to adapt the art of forgiving,

You were spreading the message of kindness,

Even when your disciples kept on betraying,

Hated; yet you insisted on spreading love,

Regretted, Peter shall forever be weeping. 3

When you were not even born,

Did you deserve to face hatred,

For spreading the message of kindness,

Did you deserve to get hurt or wounded,

Was such ferocity justly indispensable,

To grasp the essence of being kind-hearted,

Was your sacrifice truly obligatory,

To realise that love was supreme, sacred. 4

(Rome- 24 Apr, 2024)

(The ‘Madonna della Pieta’, informally known as ‘La Pieta’ is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo. A masterpiece, ‘La Pieta’ is kept in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.)

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