Night of fireworks

The night of her rape was also of fireworks;

fluorescent flowers breeding in the instant sky

celebrating the end of a war which hadn’t ended.

>

She tried to wipe the blood but its stains wouldn’t go

like the marks of straps she had after a sunbath.

>

Her legs dangled over the black flow of water.

Water was mischievous; calling her to dive.

Near the roots of a tree stretched open, naked.

Looking into erosion could be unsettling.

>

She could hear the name which water called;

she was going to answer but instead a fear

gripped her; she touched the tree; head hammered the tree trunk.

>

The coke she had.

Bang!  Bang!

The boy friend.

Bang! Bang!

She joined the party.

Bang! Bang!

A strip tease.

Bang! Bang!

Organs went awry.

Bang! Bang!

She would have to invent a different story.

Bang! Bang!

Her father had two siblings.

Bang! Bang!

The one he loved most was a stillborn.

Bang! Bang!

>

A fire worked inside her like life itself

it burned and it made her a chunk of coal, stronger.

=© 2009 - All Rights Reserved Kushal Poddar