Dark Days

When I began reading,
The chapter ‘Dark days’,
In ‘Little Women’,
I felt a deep distressful dolour,
Embosoming my childish heart,
Over a heart-rending tragedy to betide,
In my nimble imagination,
With the dismal title,
Poignantly suggesting little Beth’s death….

The allusions to scarlet fever,
Severely shook my naïve imaginative heart,
As each word seemed to confirm,
My unpleasant surmise,
‘Oh! God! Don’t let the little dove die!’,
Deep in my heart,
I made silent but earnest prayers….

As death began haunting,
The sick child’s bed,
I nearly cried,
Touched profoundly,
By a little girl`s complaint,
Real but among the pages of a book;
More than Jo herself,
I was troubled, distressed….

But when the chapter ended,
With little Beth beginning to recuperate,
I felt a great sense of relief,
Replace my deep distressful sorrow,
And asked myself,
‘Could Jo`s happiness have been
greater than mine?’

(Beth and Jo are characters from the famous novel, ‘Little Women’ by the American authoress Louisa May Alcott)