Bystreet

By Rabeya Kaur

You appeared again tonight

And the eye before that

And the night before that.

Always the silent,

Always the assailant—

You appeared again tonight,

All fierce and scarred.

What tranquillity you have left spills through

In a bubble around your carcass.

My tongue saw it:

Optical locks, luminescent...

Being a Seraph all day.

Was this what I was talking about before?

What tranquillity a creature ought to have!

Frightening in itself!

Enlightening, watching you haunt.

Sad eyes of blue moon,

Ferocity like a limp limb, severed and revered,

Ferocious and fiery, all due to those scars,

They’re glaring, glaring...

Glaring so hard

You were staring at the soil,

Nose buried in its toil.

Paralysed, I was listening.

Sad eyes of blue moon,

Hurt like an angel,

Red rimmed thighs and so were those eyes.

What a sight!

All blue, wrapped in wine.

Shaking, you were aching;

I was walking along.

You appeared again tonight

And the eye before that

And the night before that.

Always the silent,

Always the assailant–

You appeared again tonight,

All fierce and scarred.

I was luminous.

Was, you ’re luminous.

Stuck in a “you”...

Help you,

Help you,

Help you!

My veins bit up my jaw,

You were yet face down in a mourn.

Thirty years, and face down in a mourn.

That hole I saw spilled.

Spilled light and it was pure light.

I was paralysed, not numb;

Never dreamy like numb.

Writhing in a bystreet space,

By a pole that pulled me onward

As if sickly fingers around my ankles

Cold and Thanatos-blessed,

Standstill, staring at a scene—

Help you; oh, Lord, must I believe!

Lead oxide for curls,

Lucifer’s hurt;

You appeared again tonight

And the eye before that

And the night before that.

Always the silent,

Always the assailant–

You appeared again tonight,

All fierce and scarred.

May you relent whispering,

Relent wailing,

Relent seeking ecstasy.

May you find the peace you seek.

Your funeral bells get louder each hour—

Ringing, ringing, ringing.

I hear them all day,

Accompanied by your wailing.

Shots, every time I look back.

You rot, evermore sullen every time I touch.

God, help you, help you, help you!

You appeared again tonight,

All ferocious and tiring.

Loving is a life too.

A life for you.

And it is very tiring.

By Rabeya Kaur