Tahira Parveen Poet Narrative

Notes About The Poem

Iron Grates and Infernal Debts

When the Abyss Spoke Truth

I. The Well of Sins
The chains had rattled in the dark for ninety-three years.
Nearly a century ago, they ravaged the demon Marcus, dragged his bleeding form to the edge of the forgotten well, and cast him into the abyss. They turned the heavy iron key, hid it away, and buried the secret. They thought they could hold a demon. They thought they could enslave him.
For decades, the town’s corrupt rulers used the well as a garbage chute for their sins. Anyone who defied them was thrown into the black waters below. But Marcus did not break. He bided his time, clever and patient. He offered the falling victims a single choice: speak the absolute truth. He knew what his captors did not, that only the unvarnished truth could shatter the curse holding him down.
II. The Final Truth
The turning point came when the elders threw down their final victims, desperate souls who had defied the corrupt regime. Among them was a mother, huddled in the damp darkness of the well, clutching her five children tightly against her chest.
As Marcus materialized from the shadows, his terrifying gaze sweeping over the captives, he whispered the ancient law: "Give me the unvarnished truth, or perish."
While the others cowered in silence, the mother stepped forward into the cold, shallow water. She did not beg for mercy. Instead, she offered the absolute truth of the elders' crimes, confessing how they had stolen Marcus's wealth to build their empire. She laid bare her soul, offering her own life force and absolute truth to pay not just her own spiritual share, but the debt of her five children as well.
The weight of her profound sacrifice and undeniable truth resonated through the abyss. The scales tipped. The moment her confession ended, the magic binding the well shattered. The heavy iron lock on the grate above snapped into pieces, the curse evaporated into black mist, and Marcus was finally free leaving the mother and her children safe in the shadows of his wrath.
III. The Judgment of Marcus
Yesterday, the final truth was spoken. Marcus erupted from the well, his power multiplied tenfold, radiating the fury of a regained kingdom.
Thirty-eight people, a mix of the living and the dead who had kept the dark secret, stepped forward to claim his realm. Marcus did not fight them with blades. Instead, he opened a dark court and judged them.
This was never a war. These fragile creatures of human flesh had no magic, no cosmic right to rule. They were thieves. For ninety-three years, they had stolen Marcus's wealth and drained his knowledge, hanging onto power by the skin of their teeth. But greed has a price, and the bill was finally due.
The elders' desperate grab for power caught their own children in the crossfire. The younger generation, demanding special powers they hadn't earned, fell headfirst into the open rift. Now, the portal swallows them all. There is no mercy, no negotiation, and no escape.

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