Slowly, ever so slowly, as time passes by,

And more than a sprinkling of salt shades my beard,

I begin to realize, that I am being shadowed,

By an endless stream of my failings as a person,

& Fiery ghosts, drunk on evil,

Who threaten to sink me, ever so often….

Distraught, I run to escape from the impending disaster,

On a path that is unknown to me,

But which, I presume, will take me to repentance,

On the way, I grab a small khanjar-dagger,

And tuck it below my belt,

But it is not an easy journey to begin with,

As everything is covered under a layer of smoldering coals,

Giving it a noxious, red ambience,

And a shroud of thick, dense smoke,

Whereby each gasp of breath sears the lungs,

The throat is choked by cakes like arid sand,

Eyes hardened to primeval rock,

And the soft skin, flaking off, inch by inch….

Even as life begins to ebb,

And the gateway to repentance eludes me,

I feel a deep churning in the pit of my stomach,

As sheer failure confronts me,

Devastated- I draw the Khanjar from my belt,

And with trembling hands, try to thrust it into my heart,

To finish the ordeal, for once and all,

But lo and behold, it slips into the coals below,

To be consumed within no time,

Desperation threatens to overwhelm me,

Still, as a last call to hope,

I garner all the energy in my by now almost lifeless body,

And shout, to seek someone, who can lead me to redemption,

But it is none other than Sonia, whose beatific face smiles at me,

As she has been doing every morning for the past 29 years,

And find that I am not walking on a desultory path,

But am ensconced in the comfort of my warm bed,

As the two of us prepare to sip the best in the world piping hot tea……

The day consumed me in a jiffy,

With a strange cloud of suspense hanging over my head.

But as I hit the bed that night,

I mulled over what I could remember of the bizarre nightmare,

And realized, once again, the need for apologies aplenty,

To be sought, from many,

Some of whom, sadly, are no longer with us,

Which, unless brought to rest,

Threaten to needle my conscience,

Till the last breath of my life, and who knows, beyond……