The Curse of My Love

Childhood and Graveyards Intertwined.
I knew death before I could crawl.
For my father, eager to escape this life,
Was gone long before I drew breath.
In his haste, the earth whispered his absence,
A name I was destined never to know.

Three years later, Mother chose to rest.
Clueless and confused,
I cried for her-
Not because she was gone,
but because I longed to play with her.
Her smile and voice were like a dream forgotten.
Never to truly have known her.

An aunt held me close.
Promised never to leave,
And like a fool, I believed.
Six years later by her casket, I stood.
She lay peacefully,
As if she hadn’t betrayed me.

Then another came and I thought-
She was the one.
Heaven sent a soul that was my home.
Finally, someone I could call “Mum.”

Short-lived, like lightning, it struck fast.
I was left with the pieces once more.
Angry at the dead –
Yet all I could do was laugh.
For life had a very timid way of telling me-
I was destined to be alone.

Perhaps I was a cursed child,
A disease, an infection, a virus!
They were dead because of my love.
Six feet underground.
Termination of their breathing,
Because they loved me.

When I hear the word ‘love’,
My throat tightens with fear.
I know it will visit soon.
I know they might be next,
Just like those who loved me before.