Dearest Dad

He would kiss her, he would cuddle her.

He would envelope her in a tight bear hug till her eyes with happiness blurred.

He would lead her holding her tiny little fingers in his large warm hands,

Indulgent to the core, he would give in to her troublesome quirky demands.

She was his little girl who could do no wrong, 

She was the gleam in his eyes and his twinkling song.

When he looked at her, his bewildered eyes still shone with the same love and joy,

Which his messed up short-circuited cells in the brain could not destroy.

How could she have missed those tale-tell signs that he was slowly retreating into his own self?

How could she not have seen those staring -in- the face cues herself?

The extended silences, the uneasy slips during their reminiscences;

That tiny flash of doubt in his eyes and puzzling erratic instances.

She in her naïveté thought he was approaching his december, 

When she saw the harried look on his face trying to remember.

His agitated and frought behaviour, 

She had attributed to his ‘unable -to -accept- his -retirement’ failure.

By the time she figured out it was a mental disorder,

He had far receded in his own world and away from his dearest daughter.

Shying away from touching everyone, 

She realised the downward spiral had begun.

It finally hit her yesterday night,

She will never get back her shining in the armour knight!!

She screamed out in frustration and agony,

The vacant smile on his face had completely hidden his sagacity.

But his loving smile and his caressing touch,

 Would forever be engraved in her heart and would never ever smudge.