By Nandana Banerjee
The fall felt like flying, the first time she fell,
It was a rush,
The quickening of pulse
Cheeks coloured in a flush-
She locked eyes with him,
The boy who sat playing his lyre
His songs were so true
How could he ever be a liar?
Thus she fell for the very first time,
For a boy who sang her songs
Of Love and of Life.
The fangs of ill-omen sunk upon her ankles
And as she fell again
It didn't feel like flying this time,
It numbed her senses, blinded her sight
The dead leaves and flowers that cushioned her fall
Wept as she lay dying,
She was a bud plucked off before her time,
So many colours promised at bloom
But alas too soon she sank to her doom.
She was cold when he found her,
Unmoving. Still.
The deafening cry of a man who held the cold remains of his beloved
His agony so silent it's haunting,
He only picked up his lyre
Drenched its strings with his tears,
And every tug at its strings
Tugged the strings of his heart
He declared,
"I'll sing my songs to ease her pains,
Flush the viper's venom off her veins!"
The lump in his throat choked his voice,
But his voice still sung the songs of a man who was stung by fate.
And fate it was that led him to the dungeons of death
To a vast abyss, realm of infinite silence.
The three headed hell hound bares his teeth before him
But none of that noise is nearly as deafening
As the ache that howls inside his head,
That grieves the loss of his beloved-
Wait for me
Wait for me, he said
He said the words like a prayer
As he journeyed down to the lair
Of the God of the underworld.
He pleaded with his words
He pleaded with his verse,
He tuned his tears to tones of melody
He breathed life into his agony,
He breathed life into the realm of the dead
And it is then that he was put to the test-
The climb that stretched beyond a lifetime
He led the way she followed behind
Wait for me,
The words echoed,
Wait for me
I'm right behind.
Eyes glistening with tears unshed
The moment that they had awaited,
The poison wears off
The skies are clear,
He can see the light at the end of the lair!
But, the doubt creeps in
A torment within,
A momentary lapse and that was his undoing.
The fall felt like flying
And as she fell, yet again,
Perchance it wasn't another time
That she felt like she was dying
The fall,
It was inevitable she knew, how could she not?
For the greatest tales of love were not to end with a happy thought.