LIFE AND LIES #96 | Night Of Rumination

Dedicated to a friend.

***

Dancing to the rhythm in the dead of night,

In the living room filled with shimmering lights,
He contemplated how difficult he was to live with
That he himself wouldn't choose to do it.
Was it fair then to ask for companions and
Knowingly inflict his misery on them?

Holding a recently won trophy in one hand,
A tangible recognition for his diligent efforts,
And a glass of gin and tonic in the other,
A medicating herb to soothe his gnawing afflictions,
He evaluated if they would suffice
To fill the gaping void in his life.

A realisation swirled and settled
As he refilled his drink,
He wasn't a genius to begin with;
At best, a prodigy who wasted his potential.
It felt empty when he excelled at goals
That were mediocre by his own standards.

Mirroring the drink in his hand,
He had a glass half-empty view of things,
Tormented by what he didn't have,
Rather than cherishing what he did.
No amount of rain could satiate the desire
Of a desert that longed to be an ocean.

Like always, he had a lot to say but
Considered nobody worthy enough to say it to.
He fidgeted with his glass until
It slipped from his grasp and broke.
Insanely inebriated, he stepped on a piece.
Pain, a familiar friend, greeted him at daybreak.

***

Liked what you read? Leave a comment.

Comments

LIFE AND LIES #17 | Fancy a Haircut

Snip-snip, clip-clip Despite its monotonicity, the sound has a certain ring to it. If I concentrate a bit harder, it almost sounds like a well-placed tune. Or maybe I have been listening to it for too long. Nevertheless, the sound has a sense of power because it remains upbeat in spite of the consistent murmur. Then it pauses. A brief silence follows. The boy at the start of the line scuttles to the most demanded chair in the room, to fill the momentous vacancy. A sense of relief is evident on his face. Following this, a wave ripples throughout the line. Everyone takes a few steps ahead and then comes to a stop. Another down, three more to go , I count. The snapping of scissors resumes. The murmur follows suit. My legs ache. I had jogged all the way to the barbershop, after taking a hasty lunch. There, to my dismay, a long queue was already in place. Patiently, I stood at the end. Awaiting my turn, I had spent the past hours shifting my weight from one leg to other, taking se...

LIFE AND LIES #67 | The Shortest Story

Dedicated to a friend of mine who is no longer in this world. ********************************* A friend had died. Still, the world Hadn't come to a stop. Perhaps, it should have. Because I gave my presentation Smiling from ear to ear. And later at night, I drank to my fill To honour him. Because life is too fricking short, But at times, Feels too bloody long. If you google 'Shortest Short Story' You'll get the following result: "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn." Popularly attributed to Ernest Hemingway. Ernest, I'm sorry But I ended up writing Something similar myself. "Hang in there, my friend. He did." I'm not proud of what I wrote. It is what it is. "Who is this about," my friend asked after reading my poem. "He was my batchmate in school," I replied. "He committed suicide yesterday by hanging." "Why? What happened?" "Nobody knows. He had cut himself off from everyone." "Was he i...

LIFE AND LIES #77 | The English Teacher

When we are young, the world is full of possibilities. We can do anything, and become anything. We antagonise anyone who even hints at thinking otherwise about us. It's probably why most of us have a story to tell where the villain was a school teacher. Even I do. I don’t remember exactly how I ended up in the Headmaster’s cabin that day. All I remember is that back then I blamed my House Master for it. It wasn’t just me who had bunked the STD XII Pre-Board exams. There were many. But he made a scapegoat out of me. And the moment, I set foot inside the cabin, I received a big slap from the Headmaster. My ears rang. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day. The Headmaster instructed him to call my father. Tell him to come or his son would be rusticated. I wasn’t a notorious student. I was good in my studies and had no disciplinary complaints against me. Had this incident not occurred, I would have completed my schooling in a few months with a clean record. My fat...

Life and Lies of M R Maiti

Search This Blog