Fairytale Of The Night-Fairy—a Harlot's Song Poem by Emdad Shah Emdad

by Emdad Shah

With eyes of kohl and shadows deep
A broken heart she's pledged to keep
The world bestows a hollow crown
'Queen of the Night' in this dark town.

... Night-Fairy...


O pale-skinned girl with eyes of coal
What sickness eats your golden soul?

Your wings were lost so long ago
Who tracks your flight in this world's woe?

With cheapened paint and lips of red
She masks the fire that burns unsaid For whom does that heart ache and weep
Behind a smile she's forced to keep?

The world casts stones and calls her names
While she paints dreams in charcoal frames
In satin drapes and powder's glare
A web of acting hides despair

None know the village girl you were
Where sunlight touched your golden hair
As riverbanks are swept away
You fell to city streets to stray.

With vacant eyes, she dreams of reeds
Of lover's flowers and grassy meads
She hides those ghosts behind a grin
To pull the stranger's shadows in

Across the river where night descends
The golden cage to commerce bends
In moonlight rooms of gilded art
They play the game but touch no heart.

The clouds within, the monsoon eyes
The 'shameless' label the world applies
To feed a father, a brother small
She gave her life to save them all
The mask of virtue wears a sneer
To hide the shame that gathers here.

In stone-cold streets she trades her breath
To keep their hunger far from death
Only the dark of night will know
The tears that from her spirit flow

The masters come for fleeting bliss Then leave before the sun they miss

They toss their coin for one hour's grace
And never look upon her face
The caged bird beats its wings in vain
And dies within the quiet pain.

The world cries 'sinner, ' full of spite But ignores the wail that haunts the night
You are no fairy, but flesh and bone
A mother's child, not left alone.

O heartless world, the fault is yours You bolt the heart and bar the doors.
They too are sisters, daughters, kin
Why don't you help them shed their sin?

In golden skin and satin gown
She hides a house of love, pulled down
The girl who walked through fields of grain
Now sells herself in city rain.

When morning light begins to break
The fairytale is forced to wake
With kohl-washed eyes, the weary sight
Of all the sorrow held by night

The fairies sleep in beds of dreams While far away, a mother screams
The fairytale cries out in pain
Beside the crowds that walk in vain.

When night is spent, the dream must die
She wipes the tears beneath the sky
The village girl, from river-shore
Now stares at roofs and weeps once more.

In God's wide world, all have a place
Save her, who bears a broken grace
Beneath the city's neon light
She sells her soul to feed the night.

They call her harlot, cast aside
With nowhere left for her to hide
In silver bells and golden thread
She hides the tears she cannot shed.