Eerie silence pervading at nightfall;
Is punctured by howling of dogs.
I scurry to my bedroom.
Panting and perspiring profusely;
Mopping my forehead dry.
Fear grips me and I close my eyes;
The only sound I hear.
Is the beat of my heart…!
The main door creaks;
Signaling the arrival.
Of the nocturnal intruder.
Many have seen an old man;
One leg in-toed.
Some say he is a cuss,
For my home;
Lurking in the precincts.
Where I dwell?
Is it a hallucination?
Or apparition?
I sulk and cringe in my bed.
Oblivious of what he does;
In other rooms of my house.
Old timers believe,
A man who was killed.
By a sword.
Visits the place every night;
But they vouch.
He is innocuous;
Is it just a heresy?
I do not know.
But for me;
Another sleepless night ahead.
With my nocturnal visitor,
Frightening me in my home.
Afraid, he might avenge;
And do, what others did.
To him many years ago.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem