Wasn't Your Fault

If only I knew one careless thought could cause so much damage,
The sequence of events would have surely been different,
At fifty, Imami is plump and has red hair,
She wears the same sari to work alternate days,
Sweeps the floor, does the dishes,
In the living room dusts the many useless showpieces,
(I am hoping mom won’t be reading this)
Hard of hearing,
She goes about her work in a meticulous fashion,
Sometimes exchanging a word or two,
Mostly about the holiday she’s likely to take,
Or If didi would be willing to lend her a hundred or more,
Once she even caressed my face,
Saying how thin I had grown,
A surge of affection I felt for her then,
Thinking what a wonderful being I am,
How can anyone discriminate against them?
That was until this afternoon,
The carpet was getting drenched in the rain,
Only an hour ago she had hung it on the railing to air,
My dog sleeps on that carpet,
And Benoo is fussy as hell,
I thought of stepping out to rescue the carpet,

And just then saw Imami walk into the room,
In that split second I chose to send her instead,
Out in the rain,
I hate getting drenched,
My mind conveniently said, ‘Surely she wouldn’t care’,
In the rush to save Benno’s favourite carpet from the rain,
Imami slipped and fell,
The green glass bangles cut into her wrist,
Her head she complained saw two of everything,
Blood seeped to the floor mingling with the rain water,
While she sat holding her head,
Great concern welled in my heart,
With a furrowed forehead I bandaged her hand,
All the time mumbling,
Why did I not simply fetch the carpet myself?
Shame, as I have rarely experienced reared its tail,
To harm another person by one’s carelessness is a crime,
Unthinking, unfeeling...a disgrace,
In retrospect had I taken that fall,
It would have pained,
But not as much as it does now,
To see the old woman putting up a brave face,
And saying didi ‘It wasn’t your fault’.