Five past nine in the morning on a Saturday,
Jostling my way through traffic to my University,
Late again! Wondering what excuse would I make
Couldn't be casual for my reputation was at stake
Waiting for the lift, I see my friends on the other side
I smile at them but I wonder what are they doing outside
I walk up to them to greet and ask them what was up?
What they told me next, had stitched up my mouth shut.
"Immanuel is no more", they said with a sad face and low voice
"What?!"
"Are you serious?!", I asked.
Shook my head in denial, "I can't believe it. No, boys!"
I could feel the chills reaching down to my bones
Suddenly, I was too heavy for my own bones
Leaned against the wall, I asked them the cause
"He met with an accident, he was fatally injured
It happened in the morning, at 3 or 4
He had gone for a night out with other 3 or 4
Others are safe, one is mildly injured
but he couldn't make it at all, he is in the hospital."
The lift doors slid open and we walked inside
My eyes filled with tears in shock of this bad surprise
I wiped the tears off but I was still sad in sorrow
The last evening I saw him, I had told him "See you tomorrow".
9 floors up, the doors slide open, I walk towards my class
I see my friends and professors gathered in the sad mass
I walk in, I say no words and sit there, thinking of the past
I realize life moves slow until it flips around this fast
Prayers were recited and condolences were expressed
I hope, in a better place, he is blessed and peacefully rests
But who am I kidding? What better place? Heaven?
Yeah, that's what the priest in the class said
I knew that he was gone and I couldn't lie myself
I don't know what happens after and beyond,
I just know, my friend is gone
but I don't know whereon
Even if I don't buy it, I hope heaven exits
and my friend rests in peace
People were still praising God
Saying it was God's will
I just lost a friend and if God was the reason
How could I praise him for the kill?
I just couldn't understand how it was suddenly all about God
My friend passed away, don't they care about him at all?
But what could anyone do anyway,
What different could I do but hope? What do I know?
I am just letting my emotions flow in the timelessness of sorrow
Everyone gets up from their seat with sad faces and weak feet
A few of us head to the hospital, in the midst of the noon heat
150 miles drive, in the van, collecting memories in abstract sheets
Memories of fun times, memories of tests and classes in university
He used to teach me interesting concepts about food chemistry
Almost 3 in the noon and I still hadn't even had my first meal.
We finally reach there, not sure if I could see what I was about to see
As we walked towards the gathering, I could see his mother crying hysterically
I couldn't understand what she was saying as she lamented in grief in a foreign language
But I was aware of the damage and sadness has no language
I finally mustered up some courage and I took steps to see
This was the first time ever I was going to see a dead body
And it had to be my friend, covered in white sheets with cottons in nostrils
I was sad and clueless, this was very unreal, death doesn't look the same in the TV screens
I still remember holding his mother's hand as she cried while they put him in the ambulance
That moment is very different when you realize how real are accidents
Sadness of losing a loved ones is nothing like expressed in a condolence
It cannot be healed right away, only time can heal the sadness, time eases.
But how do you expect that wound to heal when the world and time freezes?
We returned with sadness, our van and cars behind the ambulance
Life is pretty different now, I saw it through a sad but real lense
A different side of life which is as real as closely you see and sense
Nothing like how the movies, televisions or news put forth the substance
I have good memories of my friend and he lives on in my memories
A good human being. I hope he is remembered for centuries.
Death is real.
You always knew that
But it's saddeningly different when you actually see that.
Not for reproduction
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