DOWN THE ALLEY< CHASING A CAT
A mystery about this house haunts,
chases like a shadow when the mind is dark,
like an alley cat prowling between a lamp post and walls'
And I, like a sleepwalker trail
behind the shadow of the cat where it might lead
to break through a circle in the past.
Mesmerized I follow and jump over the compound wall;
land with her, noiselessly on padded paws
into the courtyard where the moonlight swings,
then gently enter the silent hall
watching in awe
the bookshelves hiding the three walls, and the fourth wall embedding an entrance to an interior chamber
where a canvas is mounted on an easel, with a portrait done in half
and the artist's fingers leaving an imprint
where the artist must have wiped them dry.
There on the canvas the fingerprint is a dried up mark,
a sign that the artist left,
not in the satisfaction of completion
but in exhaustion.
I stop. The cat is gone.
I am alone in the presence of a thickening dark.
I decide to wait till dawn.
Sushama Karnik (c)
A mystery about this house haunts,
chases like a shadow when the mind is dark,
like an alley cat prowling between a lamp post and walls'
And I, like a sleepwalker trail
behind the shadow of the cat where it might lead
to break through a circle in the past.
Mesmerized I follow and jump over the compound wall;
land with her, noiselessly on padded paws
into the courtyard where the moonlight swings,
then gently enter the silent hall
watching in awe
the bookshelves hiding the three walls, and the fourth wall embedding an entrance to an interior chamber
where a canvas is mounted on an easel, with a portrait done in half
and the artist's fingers leaving an imprint
where the artist must have wiped them dry.
There on the canvas the fingerprint is a dried up mark,
a sign that the artist left,
not in the satisfaction of completion
but in exhaustion.
I stop. The cat is gone.
I am alone in the presence of a thickening dark.
I decide to wait till dawn.
Sushama Karnik (c)
Add a comment...
No comments:
Post a Comment