That World Up there

That World Up There

Those fairies’ tales I used to be told,
Does their world actually exist?
I often wonder what lies beyond,
Hidden behind that mist!

The solitary wafts floating by;
Is the solitude illusory?
Perhaps that is where the Lilliputians dwell,
All moving about in a flurry.

Does Snowhite live happily with her prince?
Or does she lay poisoned till date?
Has Rapunzel finally found her love?
Or sheds tears over a gloomy fate?

Is the world happy out there?
Or are the bright-ends yet to arrive?
Of this world I’ve dreamt so much,
No longer do I want to stay naïve!

Shall travel far and find that Beanstalk,
Which must have shot up for sure.
Climbing it, the clouds I shall dock,
And discover the pristine world of lore.

‘Pristine’ did I say? ‘Pristine’ did I mean?
I think I’m now in a fix!
Cruelty of a king, malice of a queen,
And the ‘guilelessness’ of a witch who plays tricks!

If no difference between this and that,
Then why am I curious so?
Perhaps the mists, which obscure it all,
Have made me so ardent to know!

by Mridu Chadha, 3rd june 2006