Cost of forgetting

by Sunil Sharma

If you methodically dismantle
memories of—
beings
names
places
past
community

with a swift movement

a time comes when you are
dismembered by the selfsame process—
a yawning chasm

then
being becomes a remote blur
on the horizon— pale-bluish-orange-dark

slipping into an amber sea
of fire-breathing monsters
hungry for crumbs of memories
dripping away in their flight
into the forest of dementia

on such nights
burnt-out, scary
living becomes walking dead
and the region gets dissolved

finally—

wiped away quickly
by rushing fogs

or stiff days
shrouded
by storms.

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Sunil Sharma is a college principal, freelance journalist, author and editor. Mumbai-based, he has published 19 books—solo and joint. His prose and poetry have appeared in many places in the world.