By Vandana Kumar
PROMPT — If only ...
The music playing in a neighbor's home
Isn’t happy
You wonder what it really is
That makes you think it has that weepy quality
I mean it’s only music
Not lyrics
How does one define tragedy?
Emanating from the strings of a violin
It feels like a million zits
An outbreak on a pretty teenage face
Just before prom night
Nothing can calm them down
It feels like a hit and run
That takes you a lifetime to understand
But never forgive
I shut all the doors and windows
Not wanting anymore of it
To permeate the four walls of my home
Mine is simply the fear of losing
It’s that early first stage
Vandana Kumar is a French teacher, translator, recruitment consultant, Indie film producer, and poet from New Delhi, India. Her poems have been published in over 100 national and international websites, literary journals and anthologies of repute. She writes regularly on World Cinema too. Her debut collection of poems, Mannequin Of Our Times has won several awards. She is a Pushcart Prize-nominated author- poet for the year 2023.