Exorcism of a Poet's Mind

 

Tranquil of the night often sits over my shoulders,

with closed eyes I see the fireflies leading the path,

to the skies, where a house above the clouds silently waits,

the haphazard houses and serpent like alleys lead,

me often to unknown places, but I have stopped entering,

that house of the higher gods, the silent prayers weren’t,

enough, they thought I was, who brought the devil along,

they sniffed his non-godliness and unwelcomed him,

I saw the thrones shake that day, the other gods didn’t,

allow us to enter, beneath the night sky he held my hands,

and took me to his abode of darkness, I was lost in his realm,

somewhere the world didn’t know, but I overheard,

the wingless fairies in the gods' dome muttering in low voices,

‘I was lured by the devil, he had fallen for an earthly woman,

who would give him his kind, they create a kinship,

of some great men who would and could shake the higher,

gods in skies above.’ There was fear I sensed that night,

but the darkness we were lost forever, we chose to remain,

in it for eons, who says darkness is frightening, it is in the nights,

we made love, it is in the nights, we saw the stars, the many moons,

that hung over his kingly darker abode, lit by the moonlights only,

leaving behind, the path to the earth’s end,

the gullies and abodes of varied gods,

we didn’t intervene, he was a fallen god, but content as a man,

said he could love me more, without showing his beastly side,

but had I not fallen for him, even his anger that burnt many planets,

into ashes didn’t scare me, my waters were from the Ganges,

his turning more into a man, for he bathed in those waters,

days and nights, knowing not there were some other heavens,

some other skies, where women like me were made,

more like priests who exorcised the devils, but ours was,

a true love story, that broke the walls of sins on earth,

to fall in love with a devil and produce his kind,

darkness was our home, sins were our conduct, we loved,

the tranquil life, the alone hanging house on the edge of the earth,

only scared a few higher gods, who feared it might crash over,

their thrones one night, poor fellas!

They haven’t slept a wink, from the time we united.

O yes, if you exorcise a poet’s mind myriad gods, fairies,

some demons might fall,

along with marvellous love stories and endings…

Poem by Monalisa Joshi   

                                                           Image Source: Pinterest