By: Blessy George

THE PUPPET MASTER

The puppet master held his fingers tight
And I fight, a hopeless fight
Against my dreams, against my burning desire
For freedom, I stay
Alas! The way money can control you
Although it hurts knowing that the iron
Is melting my core I dance on my shattered beliefs
The blades sting and ah! Here I bleed
But I please! I say the words I don’t mean
Till this thread loosens up a little
The curtains close and the master shells out his sliver
I wait eagerly, patiently
A hungry manic who is controlled
By the owners of money

###

WHO AM I?

Am I the wind that sails to the north
Or am I the ocean that tells tales of redemption
In the south?
Am I the soul that whistles through the air
Or am I just a body stuck in a wheelchair?
The tree leaves rustle hard tasting my tears
When will I be able to walk again
With my feet against the grass?
I ask & the bullets smile hard
Perhaps death will be an answer

###

MONEY PLANT

I have a had plant, near my window
It grew so fast
Covering the sides of the wood
Its tiny leaves shooting up to the sky
It was a climber, my favourite types
I asked Mamma what it meant
She said “money plant brings money”
So I let it stay, frustrated
Why money isn’t growing on it
As for those valuable papers
It never grew but it did bring
Joy and happiness, in a different way
When all of us were living together
In that place
But when we moved,
From that 3bhk flat
Our shooting star was cut down
By the new invaders,
Throwing all of us, in separate ways
Though we had the money, now
Nothing stayed the same.

###

GRIEF

An empty pain
Left behind
Just an empty pain
Left behind
When I look at the stars
And wonder
“ Where has he gone to
Is he among them?”
Ah, grief I wake up to you
Daily,
In my dreams I see him
I have become a soulless
Cacophony
My heart beats but it hurts
I can’t hear his beating
Next to me
The city lights know nothing
They blink and smile still
The same
But there is an empty pain
Left behind
A hole in my life
“Where are you?”
I ask myself
But I only feel the silent breeze
Probably, you sent it
To shelter me.

###

GAPS

I said A
And she went to Z
I tried B
She went to theta
That’s how huge
The communication gaps
Were
She panicked
“Theta , theta
Trigonometry, Trigonometry”
My B went into deaf ears
‘“What will she do now?
She don’t want to
Study anymore?”
And she walked around
The house like a paranoid
Mother
“Mom , Mom
I said I didn’t want to study
This —–”
She cut me off and
Brought some walnuts
“Eat these it will knock
Some sense into you ”
I tried to fill in the gaps
“I said I didn’t want to
Study this co ——”
And the course was again
Cut off
It became
A small whisper
Under my breath
As she began dialing
All the numbers
Seeking guidance
From his holy presence
“I knew she was going to be
A failure”
And soon those neighbors
Started passing judgements
All the time while
I was sitting
In this chair
Hoping she would just
Listen
And fill in the gaps
From A to Z.