So, this piece, Alaahida. Its really close to my heart. I wanted to try my hand at something different for a change and I'm glad it has been liked. There are absolutely no dialogues and its in third person view.
I had almost given up on this and decided to not participate. Why? Cause a technical glitch ate my piece up. I was pissed and angry and didn't want to do it at all. But Nik, Prii and Resh egged me on and I re-did it. Now I'm glad the glitch ate piece cause this one is much better. The poem has come out even deeper. So I guess there is a silver lining.
Anyway, enough of my verbal diarrhoea. Here's presenting, Alaahida.
Wounded in spirit, imbibed in darkness, chafed by hopelessness suffered a prisoner of love. The very love that once gave him life now scared him. Years passed, but respite never was found. Solitude had been his longest standing friend, but it was also his most torturous enemy. Solitude had soft, silky hands, he knew. It takes you in its warm embrace when the world seems cold. But it has strong fingers. With those it grasps the heart and makes it ache. The hurt is dull at first. When you start getting used to it, the grip is tightened and you are unable to breathe.
Shravan sat leaning against the massive window of his room which was devoid of even a shard of brightness. The lightening made chilling patterns as it reflected from the crevices of the furniture. His gaze shifted to the grass that carpeted the earth. It fought the elements with vigour. And all Shravan could think, was of the war that he often raged with his own self. His spirit flickered commemorating the love that once was. It brought with it a gamut of bitter memories that wove around his soul a net of despondency.
Today, years after she first broke his heart, the seed of silent sorrow that made its place in his being had grown manifold. Today, as she chose another, nothing remained with him of the beautiful dream except a hollow pit of hurtful reminiscence flapping its invisible wings around him, lurching the depths of his heart in sorrow, and making him weep. The home that gave him peace as a child was now where his love lay buried. The rumbling thunder drew his attention to the swaying trees. The branches as though joining in sorrowful mourning and lamenting the death of his love. He felt like a prisoner, one who can imagine being free but can never taste the freedom.
A loving person, he now believed, was the most cursed. Two paths tore him. One that allowed him to dream and the other that tied him down with chains never letting him soar. Now, as he nursed his tattered self all that his being shouted was, "Why..?" Why did she show him the light if all she wanted to do was push him into the oblivion? "Why Sumo?" he whispered as his eyes shone with unshed tears.
Aas thi, Umeedon ka daur tha,
Pyaas hai aur ab hai ghutan,
Yaaden thi, Bulandion ka daur tha,
Bikhri hai zindagi aur ab hai chubhan.
Hope lived, It was the era of exuberance,
Thirst remains and so does repentance,
Memories thrived, It was the era of radiance,
Broken is life and the soul is in penance.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
Her soul, lively it was in spite of all that had been thrown her way. Today though, she felt a void. It felt as though she had pushed herself into darkness and sealed his fate too. His deranged eyes tormented her. She knew not when she became so heartless. He never voiced his love for her but he made her feel it and she revelled in it too. Why then did she agree to this sham? Why then did she decide to ruin lives? Why was all that she asked herself? Her conscious, she now knew, was spited. No wonder then that she received no answers.
Walking down lanes and paths she allowed herself solitude that which once scared her, now gave her peace. She could in loneliness celebrate the annihilation of her love and with it that of her lover. For she saw he died the moment she chose someone else over him. Something cracked in him and she heard it. The severity of it resonated through her being, it gnawed at her insides, and it killed her with panache. She looked up to the sky, pleading with all her might. The rain blurred her vision and soaked her. As she thought now, she wasn't alone. No, she wasn't. The universe wept with her. The winds wailed at her fate. The leaves chanted an elegy. As she trudged along, no destination in sight, the dirge made her shudder.
She was no child, she never had a childhood. But now as she stood at the turnstile of womanhood, she sensed the clipping of her wings. Enduring the confines of a cage was one thing. Struggling in it with your wings clipped and seeing small birds mocking a falcon was another. She was always one to fight, to never give in, and to never keep mum at the knowledge of wrong. What had fate brought her to? Why was she the forever plagued?
An indebted person, she now believed was the most cursed. Two paths tore her. One that allowed her to dream and the other that tied her down with chains never letting her soar. So adrift were her thoughts that she knew not when she sauntered down a well trodden path. One that she had frequented all her life. Her feet gave up and she crashed onto the soft grass that welcomed her like its own.
Lau thi, Roshni ka daur tha,
Karz hai aur ab hai Shikan,
Mohobbat thi, Khushion ka daur tha,
Bikhri hai zindagi aur ab hai chubhan.
A flame lived, It was the era of illuminance,
Debt remains and so does reluctance,
Love thrived, It was the era of abundance,
Broken is life and the soul is in penance.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
Shravan was jolted back to reality when a familiar blob of blue caught his eye, crouching on his lawn, sobbing. So the tormentor was tormented too. But that didn't give him peace, no it did not. It instead pained him to see her so.
Suman felt a gaze upon herself, one she knew quite well, one that was the reason for the paced throbbing in her bosom. Tilting her face she saw him, agonized she was at his suffering. His face tear stricken, and his state mournful.
Tark-e-Aarzoo thi,
Qayamat ka woh daur tha,
Shikvey the, Shikayat bhi,
Barbaadion ka woh daur tha.
It was the end of anticipation,
What an era of annihilation,
Resentment thrived and so did altercation,
What an era of damnation.
Hurt and resentment mirrored in their eyes. Shravan placed his palm on the window trying to reach out to her and Suman raised hers in sync. They sat in their positions hands outstretched, as realization slowly crept in, warming the cold parts of their beings with its wise subtlety. The pain seemed to dull away as their hearts danced to their forever practiced tune. Shravan made his way to the flame that beckoned him; kneeling before her he placed his palm in her lap. She immediately placed hers in his. No matter the distances that separated them, their destinies, they knew were one. No words were spoken but declarations resonated as the skies began to clear, honouring the enchantment that was to be.
Pur-sukoon hai Rooh ab,
Mohobbat ke noor mai,
Ek woh hai, ek hum hai,
Aur ab Ishq ka fitoor hai.
Bathed is the soul in alation,
Love has called for celebration,
What an era of coalition,
Here she is, Here am I, and here is adoration.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
I love hearing from you guys!
So please do let me know what this one felt like!
Cheers!
Zoya!
