Nox

One midsummer, once awoken from crows’ cackles since unspoken,
I chanced on a subconscious token as I wandered shaded halls;
There, uncertain, charmed yet creeping came a whisper which lured, seeping
Like moth to moon where a mirror some decades veiled dim old walls.

First frozen, soundless, glancing, I summoned will, soon advancing
One question with might and motive to unearth wonders within —
Then began my nameless sin:

‘Timeworn mirror down my hall, when will freedom come for all?’
But the mirror, black and grim, festooned in a floral trim,
Gave no vision, nor a call — just mere shadows, dark and dim.

Soon discouraged and hence leaving — ‘This is madness!’ I cried, cleaving
Each and every hope within me which had lured me here till now —
When a solemn voice in murmurs made me suspend anxious seconds
For a maiden bid me beckons: ‘Ye have summoned me,’ she called.

Once more frozen, I grew bolder and in response I retold her,
Rephrased question as drawn closer to the mirror who so soon shown:
There, amid clouds, two men standing, one’s sword flying, another’s landing
Over an old sphere-shaped world — one where each man did what told,
One man’s banner, tinted blue; another’s, crimson in its hue —
And I pondered who was who, as more questions did soon ensue:
For I saw swords evolve shape across wars where none escaped,
And a bloodred clouded ball bloomed a mushroom before all: and we were all dead.

Tears soon welled in swelled up eyes, and with many unanswered whys,
I begged reason in loud cries: ‘You show harsh truths and no lies,
You show humankind despise, kill each other and demise,
But have not shown what gives rise?’

And as winds breezed in slow ahead, ‘Men come, kill, and go,’ she said,
When crows’ cackles and each yearning symphonised with a deep-down burning,
Clenching my sad soul within me, hurling senses away and haul.

Furious I clasped this dark mirror and across a window I heaved her
To smash in a myriad pieces, each shard now one divided truth;
But the murder of crows, lurking, spying, crying, cheerfully chirping,
Sweeping down each clasped one piece, as I witnessed, mind uneased,
Till all shattered, broken shards, vanished with those nocturnal bards
Whose so senseless escapade has since on my mind played.

Now, I cannot summon will, none to thrill my heart nor fill
This void on my naked wall — where no mirror stands tall,
Just a shadow who now lurks in sinister cries or smirks,
One who does not bear a face, nor gives answers I can trace,
While I embrace what past once was: when no ends shadowed our wars.