An Eerie Silence
written by: GS Subbu
@gssubbu50
An empty world, an eerie silence,
A disturbing stillness all around,
Envelops everything in its fold,
As if to say-
You have created enough chaos,
Now learn to be quiet and stay
where you are.
The only semblance of living,
Is listen to my breathing;
Thank God it is not stilled.
I lie cloistered inside the room,
Tick tock, tick tock,
The clock keeps its watch.
How long will this last,
Before the batteries run out?
The whirring of the ceiling fan,
Keeps me awake.
A simmering discontent is brewing,
Both within and without,
But there is no way I can let it out,
I hear a voice inside shout,
Let me out, let me out.
The sun beats down
In all its fury,
The leaves have stopped rustling.
Even the lone dog finds comfort,
Below the shade of a neem tree,
Its eyelids closed, perhaps dreaming,
Of days gone by,
When he could rummage through the dustbins,
Now they have gone dry;
And as fatigue overtakes,
He has no strength to howl,
Of impending disaster.
And he need not,
For it has arrived.
Sooner or later I am told,
The virus will release its stranglehold.
Till then you have to endure,
But for sure there will be a cure.
Better sooner than later, for who knows,
How long can we stand these blows?
Oh! God in heaven, save us all
Please listen to our clarion call.
I know for long that I did not heed,
But now I know it’s you I need,
Forgive our transgressions
Save us from this oppression.
Said a skeptic, what can God do,
If he’s indeed there,
Maybe the Virus got him too.
I looked at him and shook my head,
Don’t you have anything better to do?
An empty world and an eerie silence,
These can never last,
For once again we shall shout and dance,
All this will be in the past.
- Coming Home by Smitha Vishwanath - November 15, 2023
- A QUESTION OF CONSCIENCE II - April 4, 2021
- Sisyphus and I - February 7, 2021
