Presumption of Guilt

So many years, behind firm bars

My self, ruthlessly laid to waste

And still, deliverance seems afar

Though death draws near in haste

For I’m, after all, an innocent man

Unjustly accused, of a dire crime

Despised so, for another’s wrong

Sentenced to die before my time

I cannot help, but question God

Why I suffer, this undue torment

Whilst many, viler men than I

Exhort me, for my sin, to repent

And then there are a few who hope

That my fate may be undone yet

With faith, in truth’s eventual triumph

On the unfair system, they’ve bet

But what they fail to note, is this

My guilt, indeed, was presumed

And the moment, I was confined

That very instant, I was doomed

So, I shall let them take my life

And embrace death, without a sigh

Knowing well, I am neither the first

Nor the last one, like this, to die

But let me ask the keepers of law

A pertinent question while I still can

Do you not become, murderers all

If because of you dies an innocent man?

-Kartik Shastry

Why the Willows Weep

“Why do the Willows all weep?”

Many a folk, have asked around

So I shall tell you, aft its sorrow

There is a story, truly profound

There was once, a young Willow

Who all day, persistently wailed

For the woods it longed to leave

But its roots, were firmly nailed

All the different Willows nearby

Were quite weary of the sound

Yet the Willow, pledged to wail

Until to the earth, it was bound

One day, there came a torrent

Its flow setting the Willow, free

Nothing left to restrain its roots

It fled the forest in utmost glee

The rest but, not nearly as lucky

Remained stuck, doomed to rot

Thus they weep, for they mourn

This misery, that fell to their lot

-Kartik Shastry

The Last Flight

Slowly approaching, the broken window

With leaping flames, in relentless pursuit

I am now faced, with a desperate choice

For, my form of death, I’m forced to moot

Engulfed on all sides, by smoke, billowing

Tears of despair, spring forth from my eyes

As I steel my heart and resolve to scorn fire

Judging the plunge, to be a better demise

To defer the inevitable, for as long as I can

Trembling all over, I clamber onto the ledge

And as the inferno, starts to scorch my skin

I suppress my dread and jump off the edge

As I plummet, I've left, some dear thoughts

Being seconds away, from the end of my fall

So I choose to think, of my family and friends

Wordlessly bidding, a final farewell to them all

And just an instant, before hitting the ground

For the last time I mourn, my loved ones, losing

Nevertheless, I take true pride in the fact that

I, on this day die, a death of my own choosing

-Kartik Shastry

The Conqueror

Trouncing odds of the greatest scale

For decades on end, journeyed had I

Conquering realms, wherever I went

Becoming a man, none dared defy

And yet this day, before me, it stands

Seeming to goad, with an unblinking eye

Undaunted, I return, the stare of my foe

The zenith of a mountain, proud and high

With assured resolve, my mount, I urge

Knowing full well, of safer ways, in sight

Solely with an intent, to inflict vengeance

On the insolent peak, for trying my might

As we advance, it unleashes cruel wrath

Veiled tentacles of frost, venture to Bite

And still I press on, unwilling to succumb

Though my beast suffers severest plight

Eventually, its trembling legs giving way

Down a deep chasm, I begin to tumble

And as the bottom of the abyss, appears

I realize, I die a man, far more humble

-Kartik Shastry