PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

"Salaam my dear daughter" the old beggar said to me
"Have they found the Masked Intruder?" she asked repeatedly,
"I don't know what you mean or what you're on about!"
"I have no money to give you, now leave me!" I did shout

That night I had a nightmare so bad I had to scream
The beggar seemed to haunt me, how could she be so mean?!
"Ornamental hand-cuffs you'll be wearing" she did say
"Like a cow you'll have a nose-ring, so that you can't move away"

"A noose so nice in colour will be placed around your neck"
"The weight will be so heavy, you'll be a nervous wreck!"
"His name will be written in red across your every palm"
"He'll be a total stranger, how will you keep your calm?"

"A shiny dress you'll be wearing with a hue like that of blood"
"From the city you shall be moving to a hut made out of mud"
"A golden mask will cover the face that's made to scare"
"To God you may pray for mercy but your fate's already there!"

I woke up with a shudder and got down upon my knees
"Oh God!" I had to cry "Oh no more nightmares please!"
A week later my parents told me that I was now engaged
I looked at them in wonder, not happy but enraged

"You did not even ask me, I do not even know his name!"
"How can you do this to me when to love me you do claim?"
"We have the right to fix your marriage, for you we know what's best!"
Was the answer that they gave me to put my heart at rest(?)

On my wedding-day I was shaking, I could not even speak
My head was bent down low, at my knees I felt so weak
I dared not look at my husband, not knowing what I would see
His face, his age, his hobbies were to me a mystery

The shock of seeing the village where with him I had to live
"Oh Mum and Dad" I kept thinking, "you both I never will forgive"
Sitting alone in the bedroom, awaiting the night of dread
The beggar's words in my nightmare, came back into my head

My bracelets seemed like handcuffs; my choker like a noose
My dress too loud in colour, my nose-ring wouldn't come loose,
I was beginning to have delusions, for my sanity I did fear
The door then creaked wide open and the Masked Intruder did appear...
©Shazia Aasima Raphael