By: Rehanul Hoque

(Dedicated to Taslima Akter Rima)

In the lonely hours of a lovelorn heart
A wild beauty beckoned to come closer –

She sat leaning upon a coral reef
Her hair disheveled by the wind
Her eyes deep as the Pacific,
She plunged feet in the blue water
Her silence meant an iceberg
No doubt, her occasional smile was enough to wage war on earth
The colors of a rainbow emanating from horizon played on
Her dappled belly,
The glimmering light from her, as if were source of life
In a distant land-
She was none other than fancy!

Fancy-
You are the evergreen beauty
Ocean kisses your feet
A queer tranquility touches the heart
Researchers are busy calculating your age
They count pimples on your neck and cheek
None could see your inner self
Nor anyone would ever be able to.

Fancy-
Your clothing is the universal temptation of beauty
You are the sorceress with a power to fascinate
Where fascination is to yield to the horrors
Of falling in the pit, eventually to flinch from
Any more expedition; yet, it is fascination
The thin layers of the fire
Welcome insects to love her with a flash of beauty

Fancy-
Are you miracle or a blunder?
No, a comparison is improper.
You are what you are!
May be none could see you in the eye of coral
Under scorching sun in a vast desert
When passers-by implore for a little drop of water
Throughout day and night, then
You are the nymph coming down with loving care

Fancy-
Are you dead or alive?
The question makes no sense to
A tireless curlew winging helplessly over a choppy sea,
With full knowledge of-
Nowhere to perch on, nothing to mitigate hunger
Eyes fixed on the distant sea
Then you are the green village incarnate
Along skyline.

Fancy-
Giving mind to a coral you become
As inseparable as beauty from a dappled deer
Yet, you have no recognition
Fancy-
Welling out from heart of the ocean
In the form of a tiny being
You are not the sandy beach
Still you are fancy, the lonely fancy
Nothing but fancy, my fancy
The passionate outburst of the essence of life!