the fates and the future

She looks beautiful,
Far too beautiful to be anyone else
But a lover’s flame.
And yet, she is unaware of the effect
She has on the hapless victim seated before her,
A victim of the fates who will decide how his
Tomorrow will be, without even having lived today.
She callously picks a card, throws it near him.
And he gingerly awaits the pronouncement of his
Morrow.
‘ah! There’s lust. you'll have plenty of it'
why, I can even see it
In your eyes now.you must find a way to appease
that greed.’
‘and there’s difficulty with money, unless of course
You pay obeisance to the sun,
naked in the early hours of the morn.
But be warned: you must be invisible to all,
Else cruel fate will befall.
And after that, here’s what you must do:
feed a priest, clothe a woman, pour milk over the snake pit
and come back to me, faithfully.
Every Tuesday morning. ‘

Terrified, he leaves,
But not before slipping a hundred rupees –
More than half his day’s earnings – on her.
He prepares to walk naked before dawn,
Bathe in the pond, and feed the priest.
But for the money, he must pledge
His wife’s wedding chain – all of the
twenty-four grams of gold.

He comes back every Tuesday, to listen
To the forecast.
And before the year is done,
So is he.
Now all his meagre wealth is dispersed
Among priests, wedded women, children and snakes.
And of course a parrot. A parrot so beautiful.
So beautiful and yet, caged within a wooden box,
Trained to determine others’ fates,
While succumbing to her own.



kili josyam - at dakshina chitra sometime in 2009. the thought came back again, fiercely just a few months ago.