I knew him from the wrath of my dreams,
from beneath the fuchsia coloured sheets
and the discomforting warmth of the big brocaded cushions,
the soft creases and the blood-stained blemishes,
reminiscent imprints of a forgotten journey.
I sigh, I roll and press my eyelids hard
to dissipate the shaft of sunlight
that artistically drew spangled patterns
on the hard crust of the kangaroo wallpaper
and faded and peeled it away slowly, day by day.
I switch sides but he’s rolling about,
inside me getting deeper and deeper
as if what he’s after is somewhere buried
out of his reach.
Soon the morning train trundles past
with steel-grey smoke billowing out
and curdling the clear blue sky
transcending the limits of my breathing
in and out, out and in,
like the rhythmic clickety-clack of the spinning wheels
carrying the baggage of drooping shoulders,
once a lost soul always found
in the spirit of a wild-flower
blooming on the crevice of a boulder.
I slip out of my well-made bed
and squint my eye-lashes through
the chink in the billowing curtains,
and inhale the pungent aroma of the ginger tea.
I cogitate on the spell of his memories,
rushing past, fading away,
this what I labelled an afterlife,
albeit it has passed me by,
in all its tenacity and rapidity,
leaving bitter-sweet chunks of memories,
never enough, never enough.

Soumya Doralli from India is the author of two books of fiction titled I Seek You published by Half Baked Beans Publishing (2023) and Hues of the Sky (self-published, 2020). Her short stories have been published in Active Muse Journal, Booklustic’s Bloom Volume 1 Anthology (Notion Press) and Echoes of the Unheard Volume 2 Anthology (Thoughts Hymn Publication).