Dancing Demons

By Aneri Nanavaty

My demons go dancing /

They go dancing at twilight /

From my shadows they lurk forward /

I whimper in pain – they laugh in delight /

At the close of each day, I begin to crumble /

Foolishly hoping they won’t come tonight /

Alas like clockwork they always do appear /

Ready to dance on my heart as I brace myself tight /

With clenched fists, hunched over till dawn /

Only then do the demons reluctantly retreat /

I open my eyes to a razed, ghastly gravesite /

Where once was my heart, I smell burnt defeat /

Once more I gather the charred remnants of myself /

And hold a funeral for myself, wailing and consoling /

In the wake of the demons’ dance, I sweep up my ashes /

And as the day wanes, again comes the foreboding /

Of those demons who come to dance /

Birthed by me, born within my own bones /

They too dance to console, they dance to mourn /

But what for, I never know – how many times must I atone //

By Aneri Nanavaty