Padmasandhya S
A reflection,
Tear-stained and smiling,
Hiding the screams,
The night brought so oft,
A map of scars faded and fresh,
Like crimson sprigs of fern,
Braiding the pale wrists,
A network of untraversed roads,
To an abandoned heart,
Haunted,
Uninhabited,
Freezing the soul,
Suspended in an alien reality,
Brimming with laughter and joy,
So near, yet so far,
Sunshine on the skin,
While the mind breathed in a cold coffin.
A reflection,
Tear-stained and smiling,
A dagger clenched in the palm,
A newfound strength,
To commit away,
The mind promised,
The final pain,
The final scar,
A little more pressure,
And the steel incised the tender skin,
First a slight drizzle,
Then a steady darkened flow,
Seeking refuge in the undusted carpet,
A confluence of pain and peace,
Ebbed along,
The heart throbbed,
Trying to save what remained,
But the soul was already escaping,
For it had waited for so long,
For this elusive redemption,
And here it was,
At the very threshold,
Of what it had only dreamt,
So the heart finally gave up,
Razed down like a falling house.
A reflection,
Tear-stained and smiling,
Held a photograph,
Damp with grief and regret,
A memory so unreal,
It didn’t belong here anymore,
If only she had known,
How much she is missed now,
How many hearts were stabbed,
By the dagger she used,
Bleeding tears for so many,
Breathing as if it were a sin,
Living in limbo,
Wishing ghosts were real,
To hear her forgotten laughter,
To hug her and tell,
The world was always there for her,
If only she had welcomed it in.