An Actor On The Stage Poem by Prafulla Kumar Panda

Never before
had I acted on the stage
until this day
when He led me
unto the stage
and sternly said,
'act, act… until
your paint is peeled off'

although He knew
everything about me-
the fluttering of butter flies
in my stomach; or
the callous rats
running in my belly,
that 're quite unbearable for me

as if I 're a thief,
with bated breath,
running, and running past everything
when He like a policeman,
along with those sleuths,
long since
hiding in me
fell upon me!
no way to escape…

i had to hide my pains,
my sufferings; and
shut the door of tears
as I was on the stage
and acting amidst
the audiences' clapping-
their roaring laughter, and shouting
enough to shadow my persona
and his loud weeping
lying deep within my rib cage

exhausted I grew
in the race
as I couldn't pace with the night
grinning back
a step ahead of me;

i hear
no clapping, or
laughter, or shouting
although on the dimly lit stage
still I'm acting,
for the flood of tears
gushing out
through cracks of the door
and rolling down my cheeks
peeling the facade off me
and everything.

© P. K. Panda, Odisha, India.
All rights reserved.