Infinity

By Srishti Ladha

The smallest of the things like the sprinkles on his ice cream brought a goofy grin to the young boy’s face,

The Ferris wheel going round and round excited him,

The way the colours of the lollipop merged endlessly into each other fascinated him,

Reminded him of infinite possibilities and fiery passions,

He knew that when he would fall and scrape his knees his superhero, his dad would be right there,

And just a simple look at his mum’s face was as reassuring as the nightlight in his room,

He was a bird just hatched,

Waiting for his first flight,

The infinity that dominated his perspective was that of hope and of light.

The smile gracing the lips of the eleven year old and the innocence shining in her eyes like stars in the dark sky,

Both vanished that night,

They all heard her agonising screams and weak protests,

But they were bound, you see,

Painfully tight by the shackles of ignorance,

She was a mere child,

WAS because after the unfortunate events of that atrocious night she no more felt like a person even,

She felt like a dirty used tissue thrown carelessly into the bin,

Her dignity now lying somewhere mixed up in the dirt of that dark alley along with the remnants of her favourite frock,

Each drop of rain now reminded her of those drops of red dripping down her body that night,

When she dreadfully opened her eyes she saw an infinity of darkness and despair taking over her sanity.

Reclining the sofa and keeping aside his walking stick,

As the old man saw the children running in the park,

And the couple yelling across the street,

A faint smile played on his lips as a reel of memories flashed before his eyes,

When he saw the world he saw thousands of gaping holes,

However the light of the bigger infinity of trying to fill those gaping holes was so bright that is made him squeeze his eyes shut,

Making it the last thing the learned old man ever saw.

We are living in a world where each infinity tries to outshine the other,

The infinity of darkness tries to dowse the fire of light,

While the infinity of despair tries to suck out every drop of hope,

Making you feel like there is no scope,

No scope for the infinity that is yours,

The one whose existence you neglected,

You forgot in trying to find a bigger infinity that there isn’t one bigger than your own,

Like the lotus blooms in the mud,

Let your infinity bloom in this world where you fall and scrape your knees,

Where you break and can’t take no more,

Where you eventually have to let go of all the memories you held on to bruisingly tight for so long,

Maybe just too long.

By Srishti Ladha