THE RAG DOLL

You’re hiding behind the door as you listen

Raised voices saying things better left unsaid

They’re going at each other full throttle

Abusing, accusing, you’re shaking in dread

He’s drunk to his gills, is slapping her now

As she screams at him to just let her go

You can’t even run in and give them a hug

So scared, so hurt, they’ll never ever know

Their nightmare is over, their divorce is through

For you they’ve done what they think is best

You live in a hostel, which you call your home

You still wake up some nights bathed in cold sweat

They live their own lives now and they are still friends

Meet you once a year to grudgingly quell guilty regret

Preoccupied with themselves and too busy to care

You remind them of something they’d rather forget

It wasn’t just their marriage that they said was over

It was also your life, aborted too many years too late

You don’t want commitments, they scare you to death

When you look inwards for love, all you find is hate!

No answers to questions you were too scared to ask

Where do you feature in this scheme of things?

Tossed around, discarded and all torn up inside

Are you just a rag doll they made on a whim?

~ SWATI CHANDRAN ~

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