THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS SELECTED IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST.

It all started as a whisper,
You poured into me something sweet for the years.
Is it prose or a verse?
Or half-told lies?
Curious, I was in the beginning,
like a fiction without an ending.
It was nothing like a good old movie,
But I got hitched like you wanted me to be.

Long forgotten, the secrets are to be hidden.
But you and I let out a contagious infection.
Our words spread like a forest fire.
Reality? We were nothing short of liars.
Our victim got burned alive.
It scarred his mind for life.
An irony? or maybe we were lucky.
The source of the lie remains a mystery.

Our guilt came with the ransom.
It haunts us, turning each day fearsome.
Truth, it was him yesterday.
We could be next in line any day.
What started as sweet for the ears
Have turned into a poisonous rumor.