Pandemonium

Hey there, little girl.

Don’t be in a rush

To grow up.

Those shiny lights,

Those dizzy nights.

It’s all a trap.

Ride your bike,

Let your hair loose,

While you still can.

Chase the stubborn wind,

Dance with the wild ones,

Be the sky.

Soon the darkness

Will descend over

Your innocent eyes.

Soon a pair of cold lips,

And a crooked smile

Will arrest your breath.

Soon a big book of

Rules will be crawling

Under your tender skin.

Chaining you,

Groping you,

Deceiving you.

Soon you’ll be

Wishing and wailing and begging

To be free, to be heard, to be saved.

Soon the shadow of your mother

Will disappear in the puff of smoke

They said tastes like heaven.

Then why is it buzzing

And blending and bleeding

Between your legs and nails?

  

Scream,

Hide,

Run.

To the house you

Once called home, to the place

That still waits for you.

To the lonely box of letters,

Written to the girl

You now barely know.

To the haven that

Will embrace your nightmare,

And sing you a new dream.

- Sayantani Sarkar.