Father,
I would have loved you more
Had you felt happy
When I was born
As you felt when at the time of my brother …
Dear father,
I would have cared you more
Had you shared your thoughts
On life and property
As you did with my brother ..
But oh! Father,
You commanded me like a priest
You treated me like a beast
Concealed all your thoughts
Revealed your hegemony
Imposed your tyranny
Granted full freedom to brother
Father
When I confided to mother
And innocently asked her the reason
She sobbed holding me in her arms
‘Dear,
Adjust to circumstances ‘….
Father,
Now I realise
The meaning of my mother ‘s sobs
And her pain
Remember father,
It was Cordelia who cared king Lear
And as long as you fail
To value services of mother
Do not care me as your daughter
You cannot appreciate nature
And every creature
Father,
I cannot share my love
Unless you share it with my mother
And myself equally
Along with my elder brother ….
Note
Cordelia is the third daughter of King Lear ( Shakespeare drama)
Sheshu Babu is a writer from anywhere and everywhere
I remember reading something by Tolstoy as a teen that loosely went: All happy families are happy in the same ways and unhappy families have different types of misery. … Sheshu, usually the unhappiness, I’ve found, centers around children and/or spouses not being loved enough or their not being treated with dignity and respect. … Sometimes certain children are favored over others and that’s disastrous, too. … I’ve seen it all and the scars that can be carried for life as an aftereffect. … So thank you much for reminding that we all need love and care on an equal basis! (You’re a gem as are your writings!)