Sailing Through Lives

Clasping the bed linen The old woman gasped for breath And pleaded air to enter into her nostrils She beseeched before the heavens To pump back health into her She sensed the fear of her heart Embroiled in a war between life and death The subtle heat of the case Could be sensed in the air The courtroom remained silent Except for the two lawyers who broke the silence The accused looked at the Lady Justice Like her even truth was blindfolded He was innocent and only he knew it The politics in the state found no scapegoat Better than him He was sure he’d be announced guilty For a crime never committed Entangled in truth and Lie He beseeched the heavens to save him The right leg walked left And, the left one seeked right The right hand danced in the air Whilst the left one caught a cheap beer bottle With drowsiness robbing his senses He walked across the crowded road The drunkard’s carelessness Threw the people into tantrums It seemed, as if death pitied him And halted every time he came closer To a moving car or motorcycle Tangled in the web of addiction He forgot the world everytime The nectar trickled through his throat Just like a dry land revives after rain His tongue revived when the ambrosia flowed on it The unwanted hand touched her She stared at a shadow approaching Towards her in the room She was forced into prostitution It brought her money Enough to feed the members of her family Torn between dignity and shame She found no way out With the decline in the day The sun reached its resting spot The cough of the old woman calmed The court was adjourned and he returned home on bail The drunkard wobbled back home The young woman made her way back to home The four were found sleeping under the same roof Amidst the four walls that surrounded them Neither of them had the strength To admit their day went on well Yesterday remained the same Today was the same monotonous one While future promised no hope of change Sleep lovingly enwrapped them And provided them a temporary escape From their harsh realities