THE DEATH RATTLE! br br For days on end I heard that groan, br As if something was stuck in her br throat as she moaned; br A constant croaking in a subdued low br tone! br The doctor called it the ‘death rattle’, - br When the body begins to lament for the br departing soul! br Since all our earthly coming together, br Must one day surely end in departure! br That has been the general law of nature! br Then suddenly one day, during the early br hours of the morn, br All groans had ceased, as her body lay br cold, br It was an hour before the break of dawn! br My mother’s soul had passed on ……, br She must have seen a better dawn! br br -Raj Nandy br New Delhi br 27 Sep 08 br (I had lost my mother a year prior to my br retirement from the I. A. F.