Cavewoman

I live in the cave under a mountain of you.

I scribble, I scribble

On the walls made out of you,

Sometimes a word, sometimes a sentence

But I’m never quite able to understand the meaning.

The wall reaches its end before I gather another word,

There is no trace of moon here, no sun.

Perhaps this is what you have done,

A cavewoman I have become,

Sitting and waiting for days and months,

For your mighty hand to appear.

It does, your hand does appear

but it leaves before it reaches anywhere beneath my skin.

it leaves before I understand the mightiness of your hand.

it leaves, it leaves every time

and then there is a loud thump.

perhaps the door has been locked again,

locked again and the key has been swallowed by the ocean.

I sob for some time and then continue my scribbles

What days? What months?

Here, they are all equal.

-Fanoos

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Fanoos is the pen name of Jhanvi Sabharwal. It is a greek word originating from phanós, which means ‘light’ or ‘lantern’. Fanoos, in her words, reflects how writing poetry during the darkest times brings the light in her life. The light in the darkness.