Rani and Rani – A Story in Verse 

Rani’s been waiting
For the birds to sing.
Waiting,
for inspiration,
To take off on a run.
To kick-start her life,
Waiting for it, as a wife –
Her life, that is.
But it was his.

Waiting,
For the sun to rise.
She’s paid her price –
Waiting for something thru the night,
Something other than mere marital rite.

Waiting,
For the flowers to bloom,
For love to mushroom,
For signs from the universe,
Be they straight or perverse.
Looking out all day long –
Waiting for her cradle song,
Or maybe the crudest ballad,
Describing her cephalad…
“Well, why not?!
At least that!” said the pout.

Looking out,
Waiting but devout.
My life story, said the sigh
Getting ready for a good cry.

The laziest Sunday brunch,
No new story whatsoever to munch.
Not a leaf stirring,
Not even an old random fling.
Where is the romance?
The headiness, the Trance?
“You mean what?! Really?!”
Her friend Rani failed to see.
This sigh is irritated,
And eyes, all shades of red.

Let’s take a walk, shall we?
There are a zillion stories, you’ll see!

No, this is my story, my luck!
Rani is stubborn, stuck.

“Ok, I am going to race you to that tree!”
Rani takes off on a run, wild and free.
Hair flying unbound,
Flashing sky and ground,
Thorns and leaves, twigs and pebbles
Heaving hearts and aching ankles
Wind above, wind beneath –
Bubbles of laughter mingling with breath –

Never miss real stories from India's women.

Register Now

Rani and Rani
Gasp to the tree,
Just one story short.
An old one, they thought.
Leave it where it is,
Blowing it a kiss,
For it brought us here
And forever dear.
A part of stories to come,
Yet belonging to the album.

A zillion stories housed within,
Rani says, equally in sorrow and sin
As in happiness and virtue –
And many more between the lines, all true!

Emerging out of her cocoon –
Face shining up at the full moon,
The butterfly looks upon the delicious mystery;
A canvas of endless discovery.
Can such days ever be hollow,
Asks Rani, that are set aglow,
By this light within-
and a saucy grin?!
We need wait no more,
Tending to hurts sore.

The birds are chirping, as birds do.
The sun and moon are for ever too –
(For however long they are!)
Lighting up worlds near and far.
The flowers may or may not be in bloom,
But there is no need for a groom
When waiting comes to an end,
And Rani becomes Rani’s best friend.

Image via Pixabay

Comments