Radhika Dodain

Radhika Dodain

A BEAUTIFUL LIFE  

When a life arrives

Many smiles make up for his cries

This is the story of a beautiful life

For which many dead souls strive.

He was just a seed

No creed, no greed

Then he learnt about the joy of walking

That came along with the ache of falling.

Once found a lipstick in the hall

Painted his heart on the big empty wall

Daddy laughed but mommy scolded

Same action but different emotions unfolded.

When the seed became a seedling

He realized joy comes with pain

But all his hard work now seemed to go down in vain

All his burning thoughts tethered him in chains

He wished to ride his dream bus

Just to escape the reality once again.

Now he was a tree

Stronger than he ever could be

Ranked high in life's degree

Had a bright future that anyone could see.

He no longer lives with his mom

Cause now he has a wife

He missed his dad a lot

After becoming one for his child.

When a life deprives

Thousand cries still couldn't make up for his smiles

This was the story of a beautiful life

For which dead souls will always strive.

***

Save her

It's so clear and noisy

So noisy and loud

Enough for me to hear

Amidst the running crowd

The warm light is burning my skin

The little ant sting is forming a brim

He shout and shout,

she screams just as loud

The hurtful words filled with agony finally comes out

What they abhor was ever adored I sincerely doubt.

Should I run away? Can I run I ask.

Multiple scenarios in my mind at once telecast

Tho none of them has a happy ending

Her sobbing under tap water just keeps extending.

She is laying on my bed

Crying facing the edge

I don't know what to say

So she knows I'll stay

I need her but I wish her to be free

Am I burden?

I can't help but count till three.

Will this ever end,

Before she ends her life.

Is this what she gets

For being beautiful and kind.

A life full of misery

One with betrayals and cries

Where she keeps falling deeper and deeper

Every time she tries.

I can see she is broken

She can't be mended now

But can't I save whts left of her

Before it too shatters down.

***

A STARWALKER

Today I entered the place u called home

Where all your words have come from

It had a big front door

Bigger than what your stories ever told.

Walked on the unknown paths

Which lead to a place unseen

Caked with fallen leaves

Whose voice could be heard as my steps steep

The path diverged into two

And only one that I could choose

So I chose the greener one

Wishing its the one you walked too.

The path led to a magnificent mansion

Astound open-mouthed I stared

I stared at the palatial palace

Full of beans I stepped in there

Opened the door to a different world

The one you always talked about

I laughed and swirled around

Hearing my own voice echoed just as loud.

A huge portrait hung in the middle of the lobby

The little you smiled amidst all the pain

All the doors unlatched a different genre

From an elegant duke to a hefty soldier.

Whizzing through the hallway,

Walking down the staircase.

I came across a tropical gateway

Amongst the dandelions I stood,

Praising the yellow rose but pondering how lonely it looked.

I moved ahead and stumbled across a mosaic

Speechlessly gazing at the paragon of this rosy alley

Just like the sunlight made its way from the shade to me

It felt sensational, how it made its way to my heart indeed

I just smiled and smiled

And took my leave.

Came across another diverged road

Took the greener, less travelled one

Wishing its the one you chose

And found a stone under the flickering lights

Where the last viscountess, my late mother's words shone bright.

When everyone else is a stargazer

I shall be a starwalker

No time like now shall arrive

The thrill of utopia has finally begun to take over my pride.

Today I left the place you called home

Where all your words have come from

It had a big back door

Bigger than what your stories ever told.

***

US?

Last year has been such a mess

From days of misery to months of distress

Falling grades, social anxiety and ambulance sirens at late night

Entering a dark lonely home was what she hated the most at that time.

Perhaps all she wanted to know was one day everything will be alright.

He wasn't in her picture

The picture of her miserable life

The one she never wished him to see

Her sullied heart of made up lies

But his aura was tainted with a tint of silvery-white

His voice was soothing

He wore a smile so bright.

When did it all begin

The dreamy story of him and I

When neither of us wanted to cross paths with anyone this time.

It wasn't on the spur of the moment

The spark took months to grow inside

But if the dreamy story was too surreal

Would we be able to leave our past behind?

His drunken voice, his flirty vibes

The way with him her time flies

His smirky smile, those touchy lines

The brush of his fingers that gives her butterflies.

He said he was tainted inside

With his past interlocking his present mind

But what if she becomes his cosmic star

And help him heal all his scars

Would he take her for her beautiful heart?

Can they dream of each other every night

Apologize with songs whenever they fight

Text each other until the sky gets bright

Add colors to their world of black and white.

How will this end

Question lies inside her head

Perhaps when he changes his mind

Or when she can no longer pretend.

She's afraid of him breaking her heart

So she wishes to be the one to make it fall apart

Nothing in common, nothing that rhymes

They aren't meant to be, their love can never reach its prime

She knows it won't work out right

They can't be together, yet she loved him twice.

Her friend warned not to let this slide

But how can she leave him when he's so kind Even when she knows it’s just for a while.

She needs to learn how to properly hide

She needs to know he will never be her diamond mine

She needs to stop letting her guilt kill her pride

So can it be him who push her away once again this time?

But a single thought keeps coming back in my mind

If loving him was still all right

If he and she could become them

Then can he and I also become us this time?

***

A KNAVISH BAIRN

Kids shouldn't lie but suppose what the adults said were all white lies.

What if daddy's heroic accident was actually an act of drink and drive

And all mom ever received was agony and revile.

What if the romantic encounters of nineteen ninety-nine were the start to an ill-fated cline?

When did the story become moral less

Maybe when the story had two narratives or when the loveless characters became a bit too pejorative.

 

When did the kids started dissembling

Maybe when they discover an empty shell professing to be filled

Or maybe when everyone surrounding the shell ignored its deafening trilled.

When did the kids become so sneaky

Maybe when the adults hid their bruises

Trying to justify their unjustifiable excuses.

When did those bubbly smiles get lost

Maybe when the kids realize how abnormal the normal world was.

When did the kids grow up

Maybe when all they could hear were their own whimpering midst of the adults bickering.

How did the bairn become so knavish?

Perhaps the same way those splendid adults became so slavish.

***

Bio: Radhika Dodain is an 18-year-old student who has transferred multiple schools and met hundreds of different people who are directly or indirectly characters breathing in a parallel world of her writings. She is passionate about poems, narratives and storytelling. She pours her heart on those blank sheets filling them with her opinions, feelings and experiences in a rhythmic chorus.

***

 

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Setu, November 2023