THE RAIN ‘GODDESS’ - MANORATHAN

The superior gets liberal

Showering pent up blessings,

Blessings of an unknown form:

Unfriendly, the apt countenance.

From heaven, she comes galloping,

The whip wielding, bindi’ed maiden,

Plucking away ripe yellow leaves as she lands,

Convincing the roots to undo themselves

With her persuasive postiche locks.

 

Piercing, he exclaims:

First droplets, on his armour,

The wind, his friend?

Benumbing him,

Or modulating her?

 

She, the powerful:

Her chillness percolates him,

No mercy! The wind snaps away.

Darkness enshrouding him,

Gloom all around.

 

Steps traced inattentively,

As his heart races nonchalantly

To the ancient fortresses

Of his life that is dead,

Speeding up, and slowing down:

Her dictations, her fluctuations.

Soft susurrations,

Loud weepy wails;

Leafy rustlings,

Bacchanalian random drum beats.

 

His head bent low, then, and now;

Muddy shoes on his feet, then, and now,

Enshrouded in an ocean of similarity,

A friendly anonymity,

He starts seeing a mother in her,

Like a child that cries:

Mother’s arms, and the unfailing comfort.

The assumed mother, disrobes herself in a flash,

Exposing the vulnerable;

Impertinent flashes:

Her debauched camera snaps!

 

An eager friend

An innocent believer

A hopeless lover

A promising son

A timid school boy.

His first motorcycle ride

His first day in college

His first crush

His mom’s illness

His first break up

Caught the camera!

 

Multitudes of water dripping down his boots,

Foot raised with multiple questions,

In a direction, favoured by a destination?

Wayside adornments – unspeakable oddities:

Domestic dirt, liberated, and abandoned,

Now stinking, the rain long gone,

And the air, clear, but heavy!