Shalini Samuel writes

Dark days

A bang, my window pane breaks down

I run to the door that’s locked tight

Blind I become or the key gets invisible, I know not

More sounds threaten me from far and near

The old neem tree bends to crash a wall

I shiver in fear, when I hear a roar from my backyard

Is it a cyclone or an earthquake? 

Is my death near or is the world destroying itself? 

Screaming my heart out, I kneel to surrender

No food, no water I tremble as my hope shatters 

Let the fury be calmed, I say to myself

Slowly the sounds fade away as I relax

The door unlocks itself to green pastures

Akin to a thirsty deer that finds water

I run to feel the safe mother Earth’s hand

I wonder was it all just a dream

The traffic was moving on silently

My neighbour was still fighting with the milkman

Everything and everyone were in their destined place

With no signs of any turmoil, the earth revolved

And I, I wondered was it just my imagination

Which one – the storm or the calm! 

I knew then

The day you come out of  illusion 

The fear, the hopeless tunnel

The dark days just disappear

And yet again I was trapped in a illusion – happiness! 

Ancient Storm -- Igor Khalandovskiy