Broken Art | The Ambys 2021

Broken Art

"More please," An agitated voice begged.

Wuh-PSSSH!

The sounds of the whipcrackings were heard,
Accompanied by a hurt filled voice,
He had risen. The beast had risen.

Children romped and hid under their mother's bosom,
River of fear drowned their wails,
The beast had started again,

Who was next?

Three words that clouded every minds,
And she was there, just like before-
He was there, but from before,
Once again, she voluntarily handed her soul to him,
Yet again, he savoured her taste, her insecurity,

And like before, greater than before,
She got tired, she got tired of fighting,
Willingly, she allowed him devour her,
Every bits and pieces of her.

Finished, he dropped her flimsy piece where she wanted, a vault.

She was weak.
She was inferior.

Different pieces with different streaks,
Of what was once a whole,
Left littered away on a cold, hard floor.

The gaffer tried his best to put it back together,
But it came out wrong,
After a couple of more tries,
Over and over again,
He realized a piece was missing.

He went back in search of the missing piece,
The dejected four walls welcomed the warmth he brought in,
Then he searched -and searched for the last piece,
But it seemed to be hidden.

The gaffer's energy was gradually draining,
But he stood his ground- he never gave up,
Alas! He found the piece at the end of the room.

In a frenzy, he grabbed the piece,
He flinched when his fingers met with the cold floor,
He was so overjoyed that he failed to notice the piece had pricked his thumb,
Red liquid coloured his flesh and-
He dropped the piece.

The sound of the shattered piece rung in his ears,
Tiny atoms of the previously rotund piece-
Laid in a pool of their own misery,
Hot stream of tears ran down his face,
He had failed, again.

And then, he thought to himself,
"Maybe it's better this way,"
With that, he turned his back on the pieces,
He scurried for the metal bar,
With one hand on the knob, he glanced at the little specks once more,
Reluctantly, he left after his goodbye.

Days passed by, long days,
Guilt was eating him up,
Surges of regrets blanketed over him,
The gaffer, a dignified man,
Returned back to the room-
To finish what he had started.

Unbeknownst to him,
The door had been locked,
He wept bitterly in realisation,
He blamed himself for it,
He had so many regrets,
So many if only's,

If only he had left the door ajar,
If only he was more determined,
If only he had muster more strength,
If only, he had bedecked her walls,
If only, he had seen the beauty-
the beauty in her cold bars.

His wishes left a eerie silence,
The unasked question hung in the air,
What if the glass never wanted to be fixed?

He didn't know some things can never be fixed-
When their fire is extinguished.