If Only I Had Stayed...

By Madhumitha.K.S

I stand beneath the lemon tree

Staring into the grey sky

With my icy-cold eyes.

My body feels lighter,

My heart feels heavier,

My mind in chaos wondering where I really am.

The heavy clouds let out a rumble,

While thunder bellows into the realm of the human world.

Soon, the splattering rain drops enter

And the parched ground dances in ecstasy.

The heavy wind pushes me,

I stumble forward losing control of my feet,

feeling myself flying off to an unknown land,

camouflaging into the ether.

I reach a forlorn spot-

Though this place seems oddly familiar,

puzzled, I look around at full tilt.

My eyes find a murky bloody puddle

And I look into myself.

There,

There I see my bleeding open heart.

I feel burning hot tears on my cheeks,

and turn and run desperately in search of someone.

She’s to be found nowhere-

and instead i spot-

A butterfly,

A black butterfly.

It sits on my finger and then flies away.

Perceiving it as a sign,

I follow it

and reach an abandoned grave.

Beneath it I see

A wilted rose wreath,

and my scarred body lying beneath it.

The bizarre air irritates my nostrils there and then.

It’s only then I realise-

I haven’t breathed a breath.

I realize that I have transposed

To a land far, far away

Unaware that my bubble of life has already burst,

Leaving behind everything just the way it was!

How did I let myself leave?

If only I had stayed…

By Madhumitha.K.S