The Sphinx

9.7x13.7 inches; Pen drawing on paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)

Enigma

Are you?
Secrets play like dew
On lotus leaves,
Your riddled spirit
Mercurial but true.

Is it your will?
A charade,
To keep us in shade,
Lest we break
Your fragile heart,
Vulnerable but afraid?

Treacherous
They say,
Is your way,
Like a mirage
Igniting passions
Leading lives astray.

Is it your will?
Devising lame
And misleading game?
A trial of faith,
For the lovelorn souls
To drown in shame?

Merciless
To behold,
Is your heart so cold?
A sharp dead stone
None dare melt,
Not even boldest of bold.

Is it your will?
Being cruel,
Using malice as fuel?
Haunting with dread
Of torture and heartache,
While your own self, you duel?

- Rudra Kishore Mandal