Ode to a Maternal Devotion
Oh! tiny hands, clasped tight in trust,
A baby monkey’s peaceful grasp,
Unaware of death’s dark crust
He wraps its mother’s lifeless bust
In the cold depths death, she holds him still,
The final embrace, a maternal thrill,
Faith in her love, a shield to fill
the chill that would otherwise kill
Beholding the horrific sight, we pant and sway,
Moved by the tragedy in life’s final day,
This bewildering scene, the hopeless way
Of mother’s enveloping love, that always stay
The picturs lifts mortality’s darkest veil,
Love’s essence has no bounds to feel
In this tableau, we find a truth to steal
Leaving us awestruck, with hearts that fail.
The baby monkey’s trust, so pure and true,
He knows the devotion that mothers imbue,
The affection is holding like a glue
Guiding us through life’s darkest clue!
The poem, ‘Ode to a Maternal Devotion’ is based on a photograph, ‘A Leopard named Olimba just killed a Baboon’, taken by Igor Altuna, a wildlife photographer from Spain. The photo was made in Zambia in the South Luangwa Nsufe sector National Park and It was gained, ‘People’s Choice Special Award’ of Natural History Museum, London in 2022
The photograph, ‘A Leopard named Olimba just killed a Baboon’, a work of sublime art captures the essence of love’s sacred craft mother’s love, even death can’t move apart that leaves us breathless, with a heavy heart.
– Gopan Ambat
