The shadows are back, the light has waned,

That Gulmohar, I see it, a giant anemone.

With tentacles where once its roots had lain,

It stares, it beckons, I close my eyes.

                                                                      

I hope to vanish, disappear unseen,

To slink away, until the hours are done.

Behind that door, beyond the screen,

Somewhere. Anywhere! A place unknown.

                                                

They see me but, those scarlet eyes,

Burning hot, fiery red.

They point, they smirk, they see the guise,

I try to run, I cannot hide.

                                                

The legs that will not carry me,

Paralysed! Numb! Terrified!

Horizons that I cannot see,

Searching for things I cannot find.

                                                

They give chase, fast, relentless,

Looming, besieging, every side.

Careening forward, a black abyss,

I clutch, I claw, I stumble, then fall.

                                                

Faster, faster, miles and miles,

Plunging down the depths of hell.

Monsters mocking, furtive smiles,

We’ll claim your heart, then take your soul.

                                                

The faces surround, some known, some not,

But what the devil are they doing here?

The moments lost, the battles fought,

The past, the present, the future is one.

                                                

Let me go, oh, let me go!

Unshackle me, pray, let me out.

I did not see, I do not know,

I pledge, I swear, I will not tell.

                                                

The shadows part, it filters through,

Prises open weary eyes.

Another night has paid its due,

The secrets though, still undisclosed.

                                                

None revealed, nothing confessed,

Murky mists that fade away.

The demons have been laid to rest,

Until the night comes back to play.

                                                

~Rrashima Swaarup Verma

India