Drowning
Power’s been gone a whole eight hours now,
the inverter has gasped its last burst,
the twilight of heavy rain
mates with candle light
to leave shadows dancing on the walls.
I am alone with my thoughts,
every nerve clamours for action,
for something, anything to do,
I curse myself for forgetting to charge
my lifeline to sanity,
my poor eyes bear the brunt
of the next barrage,
too soon the candle flickers, is lost,
and so am I…
here in pitch darkness,
where i’m my only company,
my thoughts come out to play,
they swerve like fairies drunk on dew,
they scream and sing and riot
i run to the deepest parts of me,
where the demons are waiting,
in bass voices, they croon
about the simplicity of the end,
its soul staggering beauty,
i’m lost in the music,
i dream up the best laid plans,
shoving aside pesky thoughts,
my masterpiece is almost ready
A guardian angel,
garbed as a grouchy repairman,
switches the power back on,
light floods in, blinding,
all the thoughts and demons
rendered silent by the painful glare
I grab that split second,
pick up a book,
force myself to read,
one word,
then another,
the plan sways seductively,
I bite my lip, read,
a sentence, the second,
soon I’m lost in the intricacies
of story and language
Hours pass,
the plan smothered
by the weight of story,
I come back to this world,
whole once again
© Indira Reddy 2019
