The Curse of Lovers

As the church bell tolls,

The pigeons flew away from the parapet.

The shiny old white threads left on the

Red aisle runner

Struggle to break up from its clutches.

The wind becomes the professional bench drummer of hallelujahs,

And the pages of the Bible search for a reader.

As I entered, the guilty cobwebs hide

Their faces behind the Chandelier,

reflecting its complex housing.

A curse has consumed this place,

The curse of lovers who were left at the altar.

The church stopped functioning,

someday,

Because the people stopped coming someday.

And the choir stopped singing,

The weddings stopped

And nobody was left at the altar.

They say it is the curse,

The curse of seven lovers who were left at the altar,

Over the seven years.

The lovers who left the town in shame

Never came back.

But people shared stories of cruel brides and cruel grooms,

Who left their lovers at the altar.

They sewed and stitched stories,

They made tea and poured stories,

They read and shared stories.

Stories traveled and consumed everyone,

They claimed to see apparitions,

ghosts, witches, bloodied bodies and

Gruesomely scattered hairs.

More and more left the town,

Fearing the curse,

Collecting their money,

Leaving their properties.

And here I stand in the cursed town,

My visit made no difference,

No soul came back,

Only the silence of the abandoned town accompanied me.

I stood at the lonely aisle,

smelling the dusty air,

Lamenting over the masterpieces.

And I wondered about the curses,

Not of the lovers,

But these buildings and structures

That was left alone in the town,

The curse that made them

Forever abandoned places,

Trapped in the body of a cursed town.

A. C

Comments

Twenty-Five

They say twenty-five matters, 25 is the age where you are asked to be responsible, You are supposed to bring home food, It's an age where your uterus has to be fukcing good, It is an age where you have to be fair And good as a nymph, It is when your wallet should have a five-figure sum. They say at twenty-five, You will be twenty-five times purer than ever, To breed and nurture, No dear not your dreams, but your children's. But that's not it. I SAY THAT IS NOT IT. It is an age where you realize, You no longer have the desire to live the monotonous life, You no longer feel alive at a celebration, You find yourself as the perfect company, You don't care if you die today or tomorrow, You want to puke at people who restrict you from doing things. You no longer want to be surrounded by people, And your skills are your only saviours. At 25, you no longer care if people love ...

Revising Utharam: The Weight of Forgotten Truths

I think more than ghost stories, most people are afraid of the unknown. The unknown when transforms into a more fearful truth can devastate a person’s entire existence. V.K Pavithran’s 1989 movie Utharam is based on Daphne Du Maurier’s short story “No Motive”. It follows Balu’s quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious and unexpected suicide of Leena, his best friend Mathew’s wife and someone he considers family. Balu’s investigative skills as a journalist lead him to some strange and unexpected revelations about Leena’s past. He discovers that Leena had a completely different personality and a shocking, forgotten history. Despite being a generous person and loving wife of Mathew, Leena lived a seemingly perfect life, content and unaware of her repressed memories. Her life as a poet and a loving partner to Mathew appeared nothing short of perfection. Yet one fine day she decided to take her life in the spur of the moment. Unlike most mystery movies ...

The Women of Rifle Club

Over the decades, Malayalam cinema has often used female characters to uphold male protagonists, reinforcing the power dynamics in favor of men. This pattern, normalized and celebrated as long as the hero “wins” the situation, has shaped narratives for years. However, in recent times, audiences have begun to unlearn this ingrained bias, recognizing it as something that needs to be critiqued rather than celebrated. Aashiq Abu’s Rifle Club breaks away from this mold, igniting the fiery tension of a wild war in the Western Ghats. What sets this film apart is its portrayal of women— each female character is uniquely strong and layered, claiming her identity with confidence. From being mocked for being “just a woman” to owning the scene, characterisations of women in Malayalam cinema are beginning to emerge as unstoppable forces. Society often perpetuates the stereotype that women, being emotional, are inherently weaker or less stable in grave situations. Instead, the movie shows that ...

THE FORGOTTEN STORIES

Search This Blog