Author: Sakshi Tripathi

I had a nightmare last night.
It was faded and misty inside.
Did I lose it or break it in the perilous fight?
Perhaps it was the red comet I saw
or a red traffic light that induced my faults.
I walked as if he whispered a spell.
The wizard thoroughly searched for the fireflies,
asking, “Have you seen those bright creatures that I dropped on the ground?”
“No!” I replied while clutching them behind,
all blurry and red again. “It’s too luminous for these innocent eyes,” I cried.
I crawled, our breaths were tied, and the enchanted cage surrounded me as they escaped.
A wandering soul was trapped far from her fireflies.
Her wings were pulled, and the comet never arrived.
“Are you comfortable with a bed of thorns?” the wizard mocked her several times.
“Her soul has been bewitched, and only flesh is left for torment tonight.”
The scent lingered for a long time, and I still have those wounds you left behind.