A pain so intense... (Jabalpur Cruise Accident)

the image of a mother

holding her child

till their last breath

while drowning

broke something

within all of us

so heartbreaking,

yet so powerful

what must she have been thinking

how scared they would have been

yet how safe the child must have felt in her arms

even then, she would have tried to soothe

his fear and pain

holding him close to her heart

the breath may have shallowed

the love didn't

the resolve to keep him safe didn't

what were her last thoughts to her child

maybe

in the next life, we will have a full one

and my love for you will transcend

whatever lies beyond this one

the optics, the power, the play

none of it matters

in its rawest form,

it simply is a mother's love for her child

a child's trust in his mother

the sacrifice

the safety

even in the face of death

actually, beyond it

(In am in loss of words at the heartbreaking image that recently surfaced from the Jabalpur Cruise Accident. A mother holding her child till her last breathe.)