By Dr. Sobhasree Reji
A presence that is there — always there,
Right behind me, watching me like a hawk,
Chasing me like the phantoms of the past,
Hunting me down like a predator.
Is it a demon, or a black soul?
Or is it an invisible monster?
I don’t know — but it drives me crazy.
It peeps into my privacy,
It trespasses into my territory.
What is it? Why is it here?
I don’t know.
When I turn back frantically,
It is not there — it vanishes,
Vanishes like mist.
What is it? What does it want?
I don’t know.
Is it the shadow of my shady past,
Or the shadow of my sins and guilt?
Or are they the people
Who tried to break me?
Or the shadows
Of the deceased ghosts
From the graveyard of my memories?
I don’t know — I really don’t know.
They haunt me like a nightmare.
I want to chase away the demons,
Erase the shadows of my sins and guilt,
Clear all haunting memories —
And their scars and marks.
How could I ever do that?
I don’t know. Yet I will try.
I will definitely give it a try.
Because I want to live — live a peaceful life.
At least that’s my right, my dream too.
May my one and only dream
Come true.