Teary-eyed, they put up the sign to let the wanderers know, a fairy rests under the forest floor.
Photo by Chris on Unsplash
Tag: Poetry
Entranced
All night, I sat by the calm sea,
a place untouched by pain or ecstasy,
moonlit with the cool charm of nothingness.
At dawn, I saw you,
warm and sweet.
Entranced, I took wings.
As you drew closer, I pushed
to close the miles between.
My wings ached.
Your bright halo
burnt through my sight
but losing your light scared me.
Searing heat burnt me
but I was a marionette on strings.
Pain unknown assaulted me.
Reason told me to turn back.
Still, ecstatic to reach you,
I inched forward
until I was but ashes…
that were far beneath you…
The People in Zoo (Collated)
I had earlier written this series. Lately, I realised that I could do a better job at it. I have rewritten the stories and collated them since I felt that they make more sense this way. Let me know what you all think.
The Tiger
“Of course, it is better than the circus I was at earlier. The minions feed me well and scrub me often too. My 100×100 feet home comes fitted with grass to lay on and trees to scratch my back. But I miss the drinking straight from the stream, the rush of excitement I used to feel on running after my prey, and most of all, running around the forest with mom.
Don’t know when I will see them again.”
_________________________________________
The Flamingo
“That cramped cage and now this!
Do they really think I’m better off in this aviary I have to share with these minions? How I hate the Gobble-Gobble and the Cackle-Cackle—the constant cacophony of the mindless birds who have never seen the world!
I can see the sky from here. The way the Sun and clouds call to me and the wind lifts me up only to crash me in the damned fence—never before had I thought that hell was real.”
_________________________________________
The Lion
The Lion growled at the flash of the camera.
“How I hate them when they pry in like that. Is there no privacy here? What’s the point of giving me a mate when I can’t even nuzzle her without hearing a camera click somewhere?
Well, if I can’t be alone with her, why even bother? Let them think I’m not interested.”
_________________________________________
The Stag
“I see her sad eyes filled with longing across the wired high fence. I feel the same longing deep within; a loneliness I never thought could exist. A bondage that I never realized cuts through me in every waking moment and dreams too.
Of course, I have a herd. They have given me five mates.
But in this moment, I feel I never had a choice.”
_________________________________________
The Alligator
“Where have all the eggs gone again? I had buried them in the sand under the tree. Did the birds find them again? But I never saw them descend…
I’ve scoured every inch of land within the enclosure. Did someone steal them and took them away?
But no one came…Well, except the cleaner…But he wouldn’t do that to me, would he? He must know how much my babies mean to me.
Maybe they hatched when I was eating and are hiding in the water already. But where are the shells then?”
_________________________________________
The Hippopotamus
“They have sent me a new ‘wife’! Do they really think she can distract me?
They took away my real wife four months back when she was several months along. I let them because the guy who treated my leg was with them too. Ever since then, I’ve waited for her to return with the baby. But now I hear her and the baby in a distance from another enclosure. I called her and she called me right back.
I tried to break the walls to reach her, but they were too strong.
Now, they have sent me a new ‘wife’! As if I care! Damn these walls!”
Pretty Woman
There she was,
looking fresh out of the bath,
dressed in her red
that quickened
the pace of my heart,
sitting at her favourite spot.
I wondered
whether
she’ll notice me today,
sitting next to her
for the nth time this year.
She winked
at the passing Porsche,
crushing my hopes.
Well, perhaps tomorrow…
Photo by Hrayr Movsisyan on Unsplash
My Neighbours: The Avenger
I have been seeing too many crazy neighbours during lockdown and I am dedicating them a series.
Athena, the eagle, is the queen of my area. Most birds give her a wide berth in the sky and if she swoops lower, they rush to hide and avoid her wrath. I’m a fan of her grace. In theory, I knew she preys upon birds too. But I never saw it before that fateful day.
I was up early that morning and the world was full of twittering and tweeting. I could see a couple of lapwings (small water birds the size of a pigeon) flying towards my home, playing and teasing each other with the did-you-do-it call. Suddenly, Athena descended from the sky, grabbed one of them, and flew away.
White feathers fell from the sky as the victim struggled and surviving mate called out in a heartbreaking voice. My heroine had just separated lovers. Forever.
I knew this is what eagles do, but that couldn’t take away the resentment. I hoped the survivor will get over it soon, since he’s “just a bird”…
In the afternoon, I went to the rooftop for some chore and again heard the same heartbreaking cries, this time filled with anger. I looked up at the sky and saw what I had never thought possible.
A lone lapwing, the pigeon-sized thing that did not stand a chance against an eagle, was attacking Athena, over and over, as if he was avenging his love or, may be, he had a death wish.
Athena did not strike back. She just tried to save itself by hiding in a tree. The lapwing kept up the attacks until he was too tired to fly.
I saw the same thing after four days. Not sure, if he ever let her rest. I didn’t see a lapwing again in the area, so I hope Athena wasn’t too fed up or hungry that day or whenever he last struck.
And here I had thought that birds were devoid of ‘human emotions’; that they were…just ‘birds’.
The Siren
She was a mermaid,
or perhaps a siren,
for her voice pulled
my heart strings
and her touch
made me sing.
I know not her age,
for I never could
come out of the spell
she’d put on me.
To me she was ageless
and so was our love.
She may have had
many lovers
but I was
her only constant.
She would hold me
against her heart,
and sing
and cry.
For decades,
or centuries perhaps,
I’m hers,
as she’s mine.
Echo
Love was when I dragged you
to the college library
to finish your assignments;
when I forced you
to sit with me in the front
rather than with backbenchers
so you would study;
when I forced you
to attend college
on mass-bunk days;
when I gave you
quick lessons before exams
and kept raising the bar
until you could do no more.
What we have
in marriage today
is an echo of that love,
where you take
my place,
and I take yours.
The Night Bus
I took the night bus
draped in my wedding sari,
still adorned with the jewels
my parents had scrounged for me
over the years,
breaking their tender hearts
for raising a daughter unworthy.
I sought you
and the answer to
why I wasn’t enough for you.
I hope, they wouldn’t
cremate my body
before I reach you.
Photo by @5tep5 on Unsplash
Until
Every night
I lie on my back
awake
next to where
you’ve been laid,
watching the stars,
waiting
for one to fall.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Alone
I watch the flock of cranes pass by,
and search with them for a warmer hearth
where welcoming arms may await me.
I think of you–
a life lost to ambition.
The chill of winter creeps up my spine.
No arms would welcome me
anywhere.
I am here to freeze alone
in my own company.
Short Stories | Fish-eye Perspective 