My Lover’s Infant
By Fiza Pathan
Why does my dawn break upon the horizon of your memory?
Why do I remember you when we are apart?
My appetite for food is lost and the privileged ones wonder where my ailment lies –
no one will ever be able to understand what malignant illness has struck me;
no one will know that inspite of the setting of many suns, I still love you.
Sleep eludes me at night and so I wander about in the darkness
placing my hand upon my aching heart.
I roam the world as a werewolf in the dark of the night –
dark purple is the deep from which I drink
to quench my thirst for you dear old lover.
It seems you are going to have a baby
through the assistance of the witch who took you away from me –
I will not condemn the innocent for the wrongs done unto my person.
For I, am the bard of love dancing over the moonbeams
in tranquil solitude wherever my heart makes me go.
I cannot forgive you old lover for your transgressions
but I shall bless your issue with a long life.
The child too will one day break some other poet’s heart into two
and if you are there dear old lover to gather the pieces
remember me whom you deserted for no fault of mine.
I swear by the dust of my very nature
that no harm shall come to your child –
I’ll soothe the infant in the eye of my mind
gently washing its tender face
with my tears – brine salty and so unholy.
No longer shall I curse you now dear old lover
for your offspring sets my motherly feelings to the test of the ages –
and the mother in me has won, the damned lover is dead.
Never fear for your child’s safety dear old lover of mind
for no more shall I call out your name in vain.
Keep the child close to your bosom dearest –
let the infant’s tender heartbeat
echo my sighs as I think of you.
Copyright © 2014 by Fiza Pathan
Image courtesy: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/72929
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