ah!
fate did not knock…
it tore, merciless,
the quiet home
collapsed inward.

time, that trickster,
could not smooth the rough edges fast enough.
the wheels stopped turning, the moon forgot her duties,
the tides withdrew,

a cradle of posterity snatched away.
a harbour;
a chamber once live and thrumming…
lies vacant,
a vessel emptied of its holy rhythm.
the silence echoed,

the body sulked…
breasts heavy,
hips uncertain,
without the secret chamber,
bones carrying new weight.
waking up to silence,
a hollow cathedral,
mourned quietly.

a scar
a marking,
a memory…
an artifact,
testifying to life.

the inner space
once carried whispers
of a future,
holds only
the outline.

edges shifted,
the empty vessel…
hollowed, reshaped
inhabits absence
learning the contours
of what remains,
and where new beginnings quietly take form.

…

Beena E. S. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Nesamony Memorial Christian College, Marthandam. Her poetry has appeared on several esteemed literary platforms, including Indian Periodicals, RIC Journal, Pashyantee, Delhi Slam Poetry, and the Wingword Long List 2023. One of her poems was published in the December 2023 issue of Beetle magazine. Her poem Silent Tales was selected among the top 500 poems in the Wingword Poetry Competition. She also received a commendable mention in the Wingword Poetry Competition 2024. Her work Tidal Tales was featured in the anthology The Hour of the Sun, and her poem Poem in Silence was selected for the Yearbook of Indian Poetry 2024.