by Poulomi Saha
A doorman paces on the porch of a stilted house
In the waters below a fogbound creature stretches perfectly
Nightfall mist
overcast dreams
"What horrors do you see?"
It answers
"I see what even the night decides to leave"
Pallid skin outstretched on snapping bones
Fractures shooting splinters into the unknown
Out front, the creature heaves –
It has been struck
The man, on all fours, in sludge –
Quagmire takes his thumping heart
To the creature – oozing viscous freedom
The moonlight reveals a ghastly horror
Putrid air sunk with a terror below
A scream billows:
The house, the man.
Travesty deflates.
A tentative form upsurges,
Spilling viscous flesh everywhere –
the quagmire has come undone
Nightfall seizes the fogbound ground
Time feasts on the flesh of dreams
Rotting away – the horrors acquiesce
No man in sight
No creature to abhor
****
Poulomi is a writer from Kolkata, India. She finds her inspiration in nature and she often ends up writing about things that linger long enough in her mind. Her writings oscillate between exploring a memory, a scene, a fragrance or an interaction from her childhood. She likes to hike the mountains once every year!