By: Aneesha Roy

Dear little Cecilia, sprightly, contumacious,
Tiptoed to her room; carefree, audacious,
She was to star in a little skit
In a few days, too soon.
She expected no laurels, no exalted praise,
But was determined to give her absolute best.
The skit was staged
On an auspicious day,
A fine, pleasant, summer evening
In the sweet month of May.
She dressed for her part,
Assembled her trappings, carefully about herself;
A plump little bundle of nerves, jittery and breathless.
She appeared on stage at last
Uprooting every fear, every reeking
Doubt of the past.
Up on the stage, she clambered
Smart and spruce.
One glance at her mien and the
naysayers exclaimed, “She? What the deuce?”
She heard no blubbering, no anxious muttering,
But drew in strength and gathered momentum,
Having forsaken all dreaded shivering.
She began her lines with a hitherto unknown
Thunder, that jolted the audience upright,
The tenor of her voice, the timbre of her tone,
Drowned the erstwhile agitated drone.
The hum and haw died out in a splash
As all listened in rapturous attention.
She went eloquently on, playing her part
To sincere perfection.
And when it was over, there followed a few
Moments of rich, profound cessation.
She stood in the middle of the stage,
Spent and exultant
And the world as it were, caved in
Amid thunderous applause,
Profuse and luxuriantly abundant.
A standing ovation followed close
For the marvellous act she’d put up on stage.
She stood, basking in sweet glory,
Hard fought and long-delayed,
But sweet regardless.
A monumental victory, a prodigious tumult
That set all things right,
A momentous leap, precious validation
That spread humbly into the night.
And all the world, witnessed her flight;
And in those moments lay encapsuled,
The very fruits of her illumined evolution
From “her?” to “Her!!”,
From darkness to blinding light!

****

Aneesha Roy is an avid reader and writer of poetry. Her poems, “A Strange Confabulation”, “Gravitating Conundrums”, “Judith Shakespeare”, “Insurrection”, “The dwindling wonder in her eyes” and “Bon Appetit” have been published in online journals. She is a part of the Editorial team of Ijagun Poetry Journal. She is currently pursuing a degree in English literature and working on her first poetry collection. Apart from literature, she is interested in feminist criticism, mythology and philosophy.