By Subhadeep Santra
I was the apple of their eye
They laugh with me, with me they cry
They pamper me with song, dance and puzzle
They amuse me with distorted muzzle
But time does not remain ever belligerent
Mom’s swollen belly was harbinger of an evil descent
Then one day my life took a sudden detour
When holding a tiny disaster mom entered through the door
All flocked around her abandoning me with half broken toys
They ignore my groan and run at the click of her voice
I hated that ever crying, attention seeking sinister
Alas! The world called her my sister
We grew up, and the anger too grew with me
Oh! How I wished to throw her down the sea
When I was 18 cancer devoured dad
His last words for me drove me mad
“Take care of your sister” is what he had to say
Bestowing on me her guardianship before he passed away
Keeping up with his words I control my anguish
How I wish I could scrub off that evil blemish
When she entered college all my freedom was marred
Mom insisted that I become her bodyguard
I had to keep her safe from the tainted brained college boys
I bashed up everyone, even the one she claimed to be her choice
Then one day my professor taught me to be straightforward
He said, “Learn to face situations that are untoward”
That day I confronted her “There is something I must say”
“Or else I shall suffer from internal decay”
“Today I shall rip off the image of a good boy
I had suppressed my feelings until now as I was coy
There are emotions that I did not yet vent
If I do not do so today, I shall ever repent
This is something that you did not knew
Be informed little sister that I hate you
As days passed I hated you more and more
I hated you since I was four”
She gazed at me with awful intent
She raised her eyebrows but did not comment
Then into a peel of laughter she broke
As if I had just narrated a joke
She then ran to me and hugged me tight
I felt trapped in an emotional plight.
Since then I had confronted her again and again
But all my efforts had gone down the drain
She would smile when I said I hated her
She was reluctant to the belief I tried to spur
Her disbelief was so strong that I was deeply awestruck
Every time I try to convince her I turn a lame duck
Then one day mom left us alone to mourn
She upheld herself but I was completely torn
Unable to accept her demise the sorrow boiled within
My body burned like furnace and I saw the world spin
With half eye I saw the little devil sitting on my bed
administering washcloth on my burning forehead
The next few days she slept on the chair kept adjacent
She would not leave me alone until I was convalescent
She cooked half burned food and served me the unscorched bit
She burned her fingers twice in doing what she never did
A couple of days later she handed me a greeting card
It felt being hit in the heart with a poisonous dart
A half grown lad was holding the hand of a tiny little girl
The boy had a horn on the head but the girl had a nice curl
It also had the words “I hate you dear snobbish brat”
I looked at her and said “But I love you dear hellcat”
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By Subhadeep Santra
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