Idyllic, a poem by Abhinav Aradhi

 

Idyllic

Please don’t let them look through the curtains,

Because they might just die from what they see.

It’s radioactive in here,

For this house contains a nuclear family.

 

Father’s at the office,

But what is he working for?

Faux-pas fidelity,

Or the vixen at the reception desk?

 

Mother’s in the kitchen,

But who is she cooking for?

The thrill of fidelity,

Or for the downpour of it all?

 

Sister’s singing at the mirror,

But why is she a starstruck fool?

Is it for the pursuit of pure infamy,

Or for feeding an attention-craving creature?

 

Brother’s messaging some boy online,

But when will he meet the freak?

After all his bloodline collapses in the street,

Or when the sun impounds upon itself?

 

And there’s a hollow ringing,

On a little brass tack stapled to the fridge,

And pinned beneath it is a photograph,

Of four bitter strangers.

 

One is an adulterous man,

One is a wrathful woman,

One is a naive little girl,

One is a secretive young man.

 

Night hits the household,

And the dog starts baying.

He is a hateful hound,
Well past his prime.

 

And there’s a car alarm going off,

And everything seems quite simple,

And the family’s off in narcoleptic heaven,

But what happens when they wake up?

 

What happens when the morrow grips them in a stranglehold?