What If?

What if you came back

On a bright June afternoon

To the sophisticated arrangement of bricks

That you have named "Home"

But didn't find me sitting

On the broken steps of the verandah

With my copy of an old NatGeo magazine

That I have read enough to

Narrate the articles in their published order,

And a half-empty cup of Kadak Chai

That tasted neither kadak, nor like chai,

But I drank it anyway

Because I wanted to wash away

The taste of blood that seeped in

From my lips to my mouth

And slowly spread nausea

Through my body, mind, and soul?

What if you came back

Into the carefully designed bedroom

That you have dubbed "A haven of happiness"

From your rambunctious rendezvous,

Reeking of multiple Chanel perfumes,

And hid stains of smeared lipsticks

From what I assume must have

Adorned perfectly shaped lips,

But you didn't find me quivering

And sobbing in the corner of the room,

Not because of the cold winds

That hissed and howled and crept in

Through the vast open windows

But because your footsteps from

Five stories below sent

Chills down my spine

And made the hair on the back

Of my neck stand up?

What if you came back and realized that I finally

Escaped from your monstrous paws?

But what if you didn't come back

And I found lost smiles on my lips?

//NaPoWriMo, Day 3