Cypress and 'Thee'

By Avani Tiwari

 As into deep slumber I fall,

I, for once, thou shall call,

Only warmth now, wrapped in a shawl.

And yet, in my resting place,

I see again, how beautifully my fears crawl.

Every time my tears come to a halt,

Realization strikes, I shall be the fault.

The disease, succumbing my light,

I see our shadows align.

Again, I might cry loud,

This must be a sign.

A mere thought, making dreams resign,

To quit and turn into a night demon

I might despise.

Oh, but how do I tell?

The darkness I once despised,

Now "me" it defines,

It wouldn't let me be....

A good thing, perhaps,

For it subtly reminds

That I might still be alive.

"Deary me," I cried,

While the Cypress,

Mockingly, it smiled.

"Only if you and thee reconciled,

I shall sit and see happiness dance.

My sap would dry, a merry trance.

But sunken in guilt, like me,

You don’t even steal a glance."

How thick-skinned can one be?

For the mourner is crying.....

"Oh, Deary me!"

Yet you continue to erase and evade thee.

Every accusation I must behold,

Although thee? I would not recall,

For thee makes me bite my lip,

Haunting me, I'd rather throw

Those feelings off a cliff.

Must I be thy muse, Cypress?

I'd be happy to be.

But you, too, have been one to pain,

Crying out sap,

Your guilt dripping like rain.

"Oh, Deary me!

Why would you again be fooled by thee?

When it only demands ransom,

How foolish can one be?

Its ultimate bait is happiness,

Aren't you tired of chasing it, Deary me?"

And yet, here you are,

Letting it take over,

That maniac need to chase thee...

The fog hovers.

"Though you shall realize," Cypress whispered,

"That is what keeps you over."

"I wish it would rather not," I sighed.

"For if I let thee engulf me,

My sleep vanishes."

"Hope births," said Cypress.

"Disappointment too, if I let it down."

I would have come too far to be repaired.

"Oh, just stop wailing!

Can’t you hear the hope hailing?"

Cypress retorted.

Trust me, I can’t.

I can’t let thee take over,

For I still hear the past ones wail.

I wish thee "my dear dreams",

I wish thee would set me free,

And not set my psyche ablaze.

By Avani Tiwari