From Delight To Doom- That Day In Kabul

By Aryaa Anand

The street was illuminated and the buntings rolled,

the swing swung high and the flowers dangled down the vines;

that abode of my childhood blushed blissfully,

for, it was adorned with merriment and warmth!

Wrapped in a viridescent flary skirt

and head covered with a dazzling dupatta

I walked down the aisle for my henna ceremony.

With the mind flooded with memories

and the heart brimming with emotions;

those prominent impressions of the quill of childhood,

on my soul; theirs was the only sound that reverberated in my ears.

Suddenly I felt a touch- serene and soothing;

I was brought back into time, with my dad holding my hand;

his eyes scintillated with a gleaming shine.

The night came to an end with me lurking by the window,

gazing gleefully at the glittering moon.

Cherishing the past, I dozed off; with thoughts of leaving that dwelling,

for, tomorrow I was to give my life a new beginning!

(The next morning)

Instead of donning the sacred scarlet robe,

I prance around madly in torn clothes.

Where flowers had to sway, there lie corpses that decay.

The street that was lit is now deserted,

the spring that was filled with water,

is now red, soaking blood falling down in it;

and the abode that smiled is now all tears.

I look for those shoulders that carried me to the fair

but what I see, is a hand drooping down;

To my utter bewilderment, the hand is the one that always held me close.

I'm petrified to death. As I unfold the sequence of events

with a traumatised mind and a dying heart, I drop to the floor

to let the tears flow. I see some humans pacing towards me,

let alone defend, I'm unable to move.

They carry me on their back just to throw me in the dingy and dark,

lock me up, to let me lie in a terror utmost stark;

just to return and carry me again in the dark.

The day was destined for me to be hitched to my soulmate,

rather I'm tied to the feet of a gunned tormenting inmate.

As the city turned into a cemetery within the strike of a lightning,

my life crumbled into a hole, my fortune giggling!

By Aryaa Anand