White To Black: 9-12-2011:Fire at AMRI

And here I was

Sailing through corridors in white

And soft, polite green doors

Or maybe they were blue

Like the ocean



I don’t remember

But I was in peace



And that soft heartbeat thud

Of the white princess bed

I fell upon each time

After each sip of orange

From tall extravagant glasses

Which shone like diamonds



As the sun crept in

Like a thief

Like the fairy, perhaps

And the TV played

All my favourite cartoons

And I munched on goodies

Which I couldn’t lavish on otherwise



And then I would look at the white walls

Which drew of how the bird of paradise

Always flies towards the sun



Doesn’t it feel the heat?

Being so close to the sun?



It was white

And I was in paradise

Much like the bird

And I wasn’t hot though

It was only that my parents

Had suddenly become visitors

And they could laugh with me

But only for limited hours



Just like at home

Where I had limited time to watch

My favourite princess fight the green demon

But here I could watch them build their empire

All day



Yes they said I was weak, maybe

And my mummy often had

wet diamonds in her eyes

Like the glass

I had orange from



And I need to lie down

And sit up

And gorge on rainbow coloured medicines

But then I didn’t mind



Yes my parents were now visitors

But I was in heaven

And there were whispers

And heartbeats

And smiles

Every morning

From strangers

And big men in white coats

And then there were

Medicines

And more medicines

To make me stronger

And sit up well

Maybe there were some

To make my mother stop crying



But last night

I don’t know what happened

When they all thought I was asleep

And the white corridors were still

With whispers

And soft concerned footsteps

And suddenly

It all was black

Even at night



It is never dark here in paradise?

Heavy, harsh, suffocating black

And my diamond glass; it broke

The bird on the wall

Flying to the sun, turned black

And disappeared

The fairies stopped singing on the TV

And it broke

And there was smoke

And there was no one



I don’t know what happened

I was trying not to sleep

But I had to

There were screams and shouts

Outside

Some wanted help

There was no one

I don’t know what ~

Happened



But I didn’t want to sleep

But then I couldn’t breathe

So I had to

The bird on my wall

And the fairy-princess I so loved

Were there

When I woke up



I woke up in heaven again

Though my parents aren’t here yet

I can’t hear them

Whispering

The little butterfly tells me

I died

What does this mean

I died?



Why did I die?

How did I die?



???


93 unsuspecting patients suffocated to death in a hospital fire, in Calcutta, on the 9th of December,2011