STALKED

Play: In a dull and dingy room, the sound of footsteps But no one is found save shadows stalking walls Out of pitch darkness, echoes bounce off But no voice is heard save the wailing of the night Along a dark and lonely path, a desolate lady trudges In silence, a silence foisted by her misfortune Misfortune arising out of untold fortune furnished Way before its time; the unfolding of lifes maneuvers: Dealing a token of kindness with the right hand, Deftly retrieving it with the left, leaving behind a Maimed life grappling with whats left!

Rewind: A lively home, a rambunctious house Raucous laughter explodes within the room; Frenetic activity marked by gaiety no ones left Out nor do the lights go out, for the sun goes not down Surrounded by fun, a son chuckles, a father cracks up Even the walls are boisterous dressed in regal purple Curtains recline as a show is put on display for all to see With relish, we gulp and guzzle, thirsting for more Failing to notice the barrel has run dry nor feeling the Emptiness within that leaves a void nothing can fill

Fast forward: A desolate lady, cutting a sullen figure Drinking the cup of sanguinity laced with melancholia Life displays its sarcasm, amusing itself with the tragedy Of those it blessed with comical gifts how ironic! She who made us laugh becomes our laughingstock; He whose wisecracks cracked us up, our byword! After the curtain call comes the cascading fall, a Downward spiral without recoil, with no return To the graces that were before, just the dour prospect Of a long and lonely walk into a pitch dark night, Stalked by echoes and shadows from the past!

Written to capture the loneliness and pain of all child stars who met tragedy and desolation in the course of bringing happiness int0 our lives

Chukwuma Mbaeyi