Prey 

From early in 2016: one of my favorite rhyming poems…

Every night I drift to sleep
As darkness makes me blind
And yet my vision attenuates
With my sharply focused mind

I travel over a thousand miles
To a hostile, forbidding land
The witching hours drag so slowly
Moon lights the evil plan

The hungry mouths, the feral eyes
So dreadful is their gaze
Circle round with deadly purpose
Muscles tighten and I brace

They are confident that I am caught
But I’ve yet to meet my end
With guile and cunning, I make my move
On this my life depends

When I have dodged and feinted
I smell their fetid breath
As I flee into the forest
I escape those jaws of death

It’s only upon awakening
Chilled, yet dripping wet
That I realize the nightmare beasts
Haven’t killed me yet

Selective Memory

Time softens all the jagged edges
The lens is hazy, out of focus
Lay the gauze across my recollections
When I remember what became of us…

Promises whispered, drunk on wine
I’d believe your whitewashed lies
And dull deceptions polish to a shine
Trace my lips with your fingers, smile

Make me slave to your obsessions
A naive girl at your mercy 
Just another trinket for your collection
Love, a lie, sweetness and agony 

Then depart without a warning
Despise myself, knowing I’d forgive you
Empty hours of constant yearning
To start again like something new

When you’d return with total assurance
That I was helpless to resist you
Confident of my acquiescence
You’d break my heart anew

And yet those days, those heady days
Of books and wine and conversation
The nights in your tender arms I’d lay
Then wake in solitude once again… 

So I choose the pieces that I want
Tiny fragments, bring me joy
And cast aside those that haunt
When I was your plaything, wicked boy

Image courtesy Indian Express