Cracked Glass Poem by Kewal Paigankar

CRACKED GLASS


She waits
Hesitates
Prevaricates and procrastinates
Reflects and ponders while
Combing her hair by the window
Before returning to look at herself
In the cracked mirror.

I am waiting outside
Awaiting the signal and the moment
When everything in the jigsaw
Would fall neatly in place.
The keys in my pocket jingle
But the real key is held
So I am led to believe
By someone else
Who seems unaware
That he, like me, is a bit part player.

So we are mere pawns
In this ménage a trois
Being staged and enacted
By the queen of caprice.
Her moods and whims
Hint at a fractured, frigid soul
An exuberant, uninhibited spirit
Unable to commit.
She is distressed by the sight
In the mirror
As the cracked glass disintegrates
To reveal a lonely old woman
Shrivelled and emaciated
Still clinging to the past.