43
Poetry
Temptations
Sarbani Chakravarti
Temptations
My frosted window screens me from the raging storm,
The outside, battered and broken;
Path strewn with pointed fragments of branches,
Twigs and other unnoticed objects
Hidden under the dead foliage,
Dangers lurking, threatening.
Trees, shrubs, leaves
Sacrificed at the altar of nature’s fury.
Or is it the collateral damage?
Humans and animals avoid the road,
For once united in their struggle for existence.
The deafening silences
Of anxiety, unpredictability,
And the fear
Which rationality struggles to disentangle
For dispelling unsettling thoughts.
I blink at the nebulous impressions
Outside my cocoon.
Invisible and shielded I am
In comfort and tranquility,
Secretly nurturing the insanity
Which threatens to spiral out of control.
The deadly attraction for the forbidden,
The temptation of the escapades,
The intoxicating unpredictable;
Cast a spell on the mind.
Another storm takes shape,
Whirling and twirling
Twirling and whirling
Unleashing mischief or the urge for it.
The body twitches
To relieve itself.
Enchanted I stand,
About to make a move... outside.
" Shut the window, it's tilted at the hinges,
The air is cold and unforgiving. "
Startled I look back,
See the hearth,
Then see the sun at the horizon;
Rising or setting, failing to recall.