In the veil of rain, a hooded figure disappears into the concrete jungle. No one really comes this way, no one knows the existence of the hooded person or the trail that appeared over the past 7 years and 7 months. This brick forest is filled with magical creatures, hidden from the purview of city dwelling people, and only they acknowledge the presence of the hooded stranger.
He reaches a hut, enters it, and shuts the door. "Here he comes again," The auburn-haired poltergeist dwelling in this hut sighs at her friends. "To sit and ponder. Recite shitty poems that don't rhyme, neither make any sense". Her friends all cackle. The stranger does not pay heed to them, they are harmless after all and their sneers have little effect on him.
The darkness sets in the hut, only to be dispersed by a dozen candles lit one after the other. The hooded one makes himself a cup of coffee, drags a chair, and sits facing the westbound wall. Gigantic wall, with no decorations, except for the huge portrait of a woman.
The hooded one stares at her. Into her eyes. Her eyes were decorated with eyeliner, and compliments deep, straight, black hair and oval shape of her face. Her beautiful nose, despite her not being a fan of it herself, smiling back at him. He picks up a notebook and opens up a random page. There he reads to her—
===================================================
I promise I tried as you said,
I tried to find someone else,
‘Share your love with them’, you said.
‘They’ll see you,’ you said.
I searched high and low,
I searched in the cities,
Among the rich, though vile they are—
Among the wise, though too uptight—
Among the pretty, though without words—
Among the decent ones even, who
Have everything you do,
Or even more.
Albeit, they’re not you, oh no!
They pale against you,
Made of plastic, made of dust,
Strangers to me, alien in heart
In the end, all I discovered is
That I was looking for you
All along! All along!
Those sleepless nights,
Like nocturnal owls,
Reading your thoughts,
Your fascination with love,
Your recitations, your songs
How I missed you in the moments
Of your absence! And rejoiced
The moment you came back!
Deep dives in brown pages,
Ensemble, like hungry explorers,
I am sorry I got lost
In the great maze of you.
Leaving you alone,
On the shore.
I promise the concept of
Unrequited love isn’t unknown to me,
It hammered into me
Time and time again.
The best course of action—
To leave with your dignity,
Yet my legs won't move
They have their own will.
Why do I keep trying
To make you see my gaping wound
Knowing it would scare you
Driving you further away,
From me, from my
pathetic clinging hopes!
Ah silly me, you don’t feel a thing
In your still portrait,
You poor thing.
While I bleed away…
And I pretend to be okay.
And I don’t say— I would
Give up the world for you!
I walk the world with you
Then you are not there anymore
Not hearing your voice
Not listening to you sing
I grow numb, and only a heaviness lingers
Somewhere in my body
Like a solemn reminder—
You are irreplaceable.
I remind myself again
You are happy, with the choice you made
That's all that matters, I tell myself
Yet it burns with the most
Dazzling flames, the sun cowers
I lied, my beloved, I'm sorry.
I never merely fancied you
It was love all along.
Shall it remain, kindled,
Unbeknownst to you.
=====================================================
The hooded stranger stopped. “This isn’t poetry, it’s torture! Stop, you pathetic fool! Don't come back again”, shrieked the poltergeist from one corner. And they started laughing. “What a horrible verse building!” Said another one. One of the ghosts didn't agree with the comment and they started to argue. Soon the room was empty, leaving echoes of the recital and the laughs, leaving the hooded stranger all alone. Like he always was.
The photo is mine.
