Drenched Cactus

by Ruchi Acharya

DRENCHED CACTUS

Only love can scourge like this,

When his kisses set ablaze under my skin.

Love is a deadly and infinitely torturous affair;

How can I forgive you and beat the nightmares?

Where did all the forever promises disappear?

Leaving footprints on the Shirahama sand, so temporary.

Leaving my hand and smiling so blindly, thinking you saved me.

Half the man, half the lover -

I wish we had never collected the conchs and seashells,

Or that I hadn’t dreamt about us walking on nature’s trails.

We are both takers, not givers; lost in an untraced galaxy.

The wind couldn’t catch up with the heaviness in my lungs, as I breathe,

How can my soul leave me unloved? It’s unforgivable, you freak!

A part of me never wants to believe my unheard screams.

Haunted by the memories of first lover from later years,

I dreamt unnecessarily and hoped for rescue.

Your love can’t bring me back to life.

Dead roses in hand, and memories make my thoughts ponder

In the miserable hollowness and quietude I never asked for.

The house is on fire, and I am trying to water the ocean like a lost gardener.

My heart turned purple in the darkest era; the blues are deepening.

We both walked away and flew into two different skies.

We are day and night, the sun and the moon.

We can never be aligned.

Admiration lies from a distance,

Like a Perseid meteor shower in the dull August,

Like a lost boat sinking into the bottom of the amaranthine ocean,

A place where the rays from the lighthouse can never reach.

Hate grows every day that passes by,

Similar to the hungry nomad standing barefoot outside the meat shop,

Like a dying camel envying the drenched cactus in the barren desert.

Ruchi Acharya is the CEO and Founder of Wingless Dreamer Publisher. She has garnered much acclaim for her poetry book, Off the Cliff. She received her summer graduation in English Literature from the University of Oxford. Her work has been applauded by multiple publishers across the world. When not writing she can be found exploring historical buildings and ancient ruins. As of 2022, she resides in Chennai, India enjoying the coconut water, palm trees, sandy beaches and sunkisses.

You can visit her online at ruchiacharya.com 

"All worries are less with wine”

Instagram: ruchi_acharya