#19 Lullaby

The lullaby you used to sing

still echoes in my ears.

It sticks with me on nights when I wake up terrified

from a nightmare too eerie than any Annabelle sequel

and caress my hair,

its touch calming down every cell of my body.

And when on nights I become too scared

by the unusual howls coming from across the road,

like some magical soothingness, your lullaby

continues to straighten the creases on my forehead

with the love that pours from your voice.

The syllables fall from your lips like pearls,

weave a necklace of confidence

and hang it around my neck.

The song you used to sing has been stuck in my mind

like the strongest adhesive,

simultaneously joining the torn pieces of my soul.

And when on some nights I sleep well,

I dream of you,

rocking me to sleep in your lap

singing the lullaby you used to sing.

© Kavya Mukhija, 2018.