I don't know who she was, how she looked or how she spoke,
Where she studied, or where she lived,
Who her friends were, or who were her folk
I know nothing, except that, she hadn't survived.
But I can't stop thinking about her.
She must have been a regular girl,
With a Facebook page and friends galore,
Innocently made plans for a Sunday evening,
Not knowing, she'd only survive only one Sunday more.
How did she feel when she left that mall,
Did she think of the tiger after she saw The Life of Pi,
She would soon be left to lead a broken climax of her own,
In minutes she would be left stranded, exploited, left to die.
I can't stop thinking about her.
The million thoughts in her head when she entered that bus,
College tomorrow? Let me ask him where to take the next auto from?
Innocent and unassuming, clutching her bag close maybe,
Till the air would smell foul and her heart knew something was wrong.
She survived that nightmare, to find herself in a hospital bed,
Held together by machines and pipes, breathing slowly but not dead.
She spoke at times, at times wrote messages on paper,
How did she find the courage, as her body and soul quietly bled.
I can't stop thinking about her.
They held marches, protested with all their might,
Urging people to join in, they felt so betrayed,
I didn't know if I could change much,
But I did what I could, I silently prayed.
She's gone now, with so many different names they remember her,
The girl, who showed them how their system needed repair,
The girl, who warned us of the daggers lurking at every corner,
The girl, who fought beyond thought, in distraught despair.
I can't stop thinking about her.
She will heal no patient, nor know another touch,
She won't ever watch another movie, or see an ice-cream melt,
She won't tell apart a bus from a medical airlifting chopper,
She's gone and she'll never tell anyone how she really felt.
Or how those 13 days were spent,
Not knowing sunrise from sunset, night from day,
I can't stop thinking about her,
Or how she still said she wanted to live, in this society in decay.
