♪ grandpa  ♪ 

Grandpa was getting weaker now

He looked like a walking skeleton
He couldn't hold his cup of tea
Without spilling some over himself
He ate more pills than he ate food
But the light in his eyes
Still shone bright
When he told me stories of
Arjun and Krishn
And I listened, bored
Because I took them for granted
And kept thinking about the
Chapters of physics I had to do.
Sometimes I told him that
I had to study
And he never said a word
He let me go each time.
He wouldn't even disturb me
If he wanted a cup of tea
He would make it himself.
He still went for his evening walks
To keep his legs fit
I used to go with him everyday
But now I had to study
Soon enough, he got a
Walking cane
And one day while he was
Tying his shoes, he asked me if
I wanted to come
I said that I had stuff to do.
So he got up
And walked towards the door
He stumbled and tripped
Dad caught him and
Sat him down on the couch
Grandpa was shaking
He said he wanted to go outside
He wanted some fresh air
So I brought my chair
Which had wheels under it
And we took him out to the porch
I sat down on the ground for a minute
And we looked at the cloudy night sky
And then I told him that
I had to go
I left him there on the chair
And told him to ring the doorbell
If he needed anything
He said that he wanted to be there
For one hour; after that it would
Get cold.
Somehow,
Looking at his weak form,
I knew the bell would never ring
I knew that if I went outside
I would find the light in his eyes gone
I wonder why I left him there
Maybe to let him have
His moment of peace
But no, that wasn't true
Because I knew that it would've
Been better with me by his side
But the truth is that I was scared
And he,
Though he needed me
He didn't ask me to sit with him
Because he knew a small child like me
Wouldn't be able to handle death.
And so
When we went outside an hour later
We found him gone.
And now I wished that
I had paid attention to
The stories he tried tell me
Because the knowledge that I could
Gain from him
Was far more than the knowledge
Any book could give me.
I wish I had valued you more,
Grandpa. I'm sorry.