The walls,
tall and dark,
covered with mosses with slime marks,
raised over time brick by brick,
arresting her thoughts confined to a dungeon,
throwing her to oblivion,
reduced to exist,
and now she was a loner,
a ruptured soul,
draped in a shroud of nihility

And her opinions
hammered over time,
often drawing her to some pretend emotional rathole,
or imposed threats to oblige his ways,
and if any trifle residue
of her views lingered around,
he crushed it under his boot
writing off her presence,
as if she was some withering dry maple leaves
awaiting to be crumpled and bereaved

And her smile
that was once golden,
now hiding behind her deceptive eyes,
for her happiness was forced to assume new meaning,
contrived like a shadow of his blemish desires,
and all her wishes,
her aspirations,
her grit rumpled
under the pretext of his love

She resigned to her fate,
assumed the storm would never abate,
she smiled but without charm,
despite being perilous she was disarmed,
now her dreams were nothing but shades of gray,
her aspirations were shattered and hopes disarrayed

But then one day she noticed
a small crack on the wall
she peeped out with curiosity
and saw some shimmering light
in the dawn blithe
she felt a soothing breeze
an eye in the light
a glow within her heart

Before she could comprehend
what was in her sight,
he waved at her relentlessly
wearing a beguile smile,
their eyes met through the tiny opening in the wall,
there were sparks in their heart
in that moment of trice

And through that diminutive opening
he gave her hope,
he taught her to smile,
he coaxed her to love,
and though the words between them
were reduced to a few,
the endearment they found was refreshing and renewed

And with such beliefs standing by her side,
she escaped all barriers,
broke all predicament,
and shed away all the miscreant signs
now no one dared to hold her,
for she nurtured a rebellious mind

For her to beacon the world
screaming with joy and pride,
all she needed was a gentle nudge,
to look through that aberrant opening,
to earn back her lost strides

Copyright © Shantanu Baruah

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