Sleep's Cradle

By Tanushree Kar

Her fingers lingered upon the blunt pages

The only keywords she would find were

LOVE – NIGHTMARE – BETRAYAL

Her shaky hands and trembling legs

Her body stiff as if in death’s scroll.

Eyes awake but soul cursed to sleep

The creature strokes; hard to believe

She clasps the sheets knowing it’s a dream

Throat tied by a knot, fear muffled her screams.

Her thoughts break and she finds

herself a mess

Still drowning in the bedsheet’s caress

She picks up the phone, not a contact to dial

Tears fall but she brims a smile

The keywords strike back

LOVE – NIGHTMARE – BETRAYAL.

Love’s a pure bliss which ends up in a nightmare of betrayal.

By Tanushree Kar