Zamindar

by Gourab

The lifeless chandelier limps its way
Back to its senses from coffers drained of marrow
On a closeted night of rose and sandalwood
For decedent sips of sullen whiskey with us
Against placid wisps from the opiate hookah.
Glass piers sway under triple lamp shades
To rhythmic anklets before our storied revelry
Behind louvered windows of coloured panels
And ornate doors at my ancestral mansion,
Where conspiracies crouch about the balustrades
And secrets slink between the flutes on every column.
The cobwebs have been flouting norms since daybreak
Working their way around opulent carcasses,
Along the plinth to the corners of marble, reaching for the putrid joists
While the beguiling bottle sleeps calmly on its side
And the portraits stare down on a truckled me,
Choking on a vomit of my past.