Poetry 2017 Longlist Gomathi Mohan

INTRUDER

It was late in the night
Insomnia had become a rite
Try as I might
Eyelids refusing to shut tight

So was reading on the couch
Sitting in a slouch
Hitchcock's Spellbound
Doctor's amnesia unfound

When all of a sudden
Behind the curtain
From the corner of my eye
Saw a figure flit by

All courage good riddance
Reducing me to pittance
Didnt budge,  didnt move
Like sledged in a groove

Saw him moving with great stealth
As I sat stuck in chapter twelfth
Now, how had he entered
It left me floundered

All doors had been locked
So I was balked
Wracked my disarrayed brains
While he vantaged  on gains

He had moved to the kitchen
While I sat there stricken
Helping himself to morsels
From the leftover parcels

He knew every nook and corner
Who was his informer?
With ease did he manage
To hold me a hostage

His actions were infuriating
Moving around intimidating
Ignoring my existence
Was piqued by his nonchalance 

Me, an oldster with a walker
At the mercy of an intruder
Whence he came clueless
Wither headed to aimless

Gaining over my dwelling
Felt like yelling
Made to dance to his tunes
As he sat there eating up prunes

How he rejoices at my plight
Holds  me ransom to his might
His next stop is balcony
Hark! I hear some cacaphony

Had enough of his vagrance
Reached the brink of my patience
About time he made an honourable exit 
Else him I'll unceremoniously evict

What mayhem he has wrought
Futile precautions have I sought
Alas!  I'm made to kneel
Before a rat and it's squeal.