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Friends of Agony, Dandelion

by Anupama Mishra
(Varanasi, India)

FRIENDS OF AGONY
By Anupama Mishra

Having been aloof in this world
I wandered through the lanes
At the day and in the night,
At the bay and in the forest.
Many times,
But alas my heart was not at peace.
The dingy days of the past were
shadowing me,
Toxic relationships drowned me
To the valley of desolation
And life dragged me back
To fling me to the fire,
I felt as if my muscles
Were burning and ozzing to the ground,
The skin was melting and falling around,
The eyeballs came out,
The cells were bubbling,
The bones spontaneously ignite.
What if the soul burns
And body survives.
I was running madly,
Looking up and down
For that water,
Which can sooth the wounds of fire.
I was speculating,
Was it my gloomy outlooks towards life?
Was it my negativism?
Was it my hopelessness?
Then suddenly I saw,
The rain was pouring down
And a poor cat was
Looking for a safer place
With its legs broken and fur withered.
I wanted to reach out my hands and touch her,
When she took no notice of my hands.
She also had scars left on her body
And surely on her soul,
Her pathetic condition was telling
A story which was unheard,
She had spent her days in shackles
Just like me.
I took her to home
And wiped her wound,
Put her at ease,
Then I peeped into her deep eyes
And borrowed her pain,
Now the cat and I
Were together
Fighting with the same agony.

**

DANDELION
By Anupama Mishra

A flower prospered in my yard
During last few days,
I peeped into her face and tried to know its name,
I was helpless but amazed,
It's tiny strand like petals
were shining brightly,
As in father's presence
a daughter's radiant face,
I used to steal glances at it
to speculate its ontogeny.
It revived me each time, as I
took a glimpse,
My fancies took wings, and flew to different directions,
Sometimes it looks like a white river
In its vibrant phase,
Sometimes it seemed to me
like a light skinned girl
Standing with her majestic demeanour,
Being amazed by its magnificence
I asked my mother about
the glory of efflorescence,
she laughed and whispered in my ears,
The secret
It will flee,
it will blow with the wind,
But you can make a wish
Before it flies away,
Counting the left diminishing days
Of my dear friend's departure,
My heart was flooded with turbulent emotions.
I made a wish well,
Wherever this flower blows,
May it be safe,
May it have a reincarnation.
***