The Bitter Peel of the Sweet Banana

A poem by Achuthan Panikath

Tue Mar 31 2026

The devil’s devious pact,
When all is given with a catch,
Pandora’s box was where it began.
All are gifted with the brimming life,
“To dream, to hope, to love,
oh! And then let there be Fear.”

Fear fed the hearts of those who dreamt,
Took refuge in minds of hopeful men,
And taught loving hearts to give up.
Fear was sent help, but of course!
Boisterous Envy, cunning Regret,
Brave Hypocrisy, and dire Indolence.

Sins! Sins! Sins everywhere!
Quick! Look behind you,
Glance to your right,
Every friend adorns a mask!
Yet to many, I become that friend,
The masked villain in tux.

Senility has come home at our teen,
With gifts of ‘wisdom’, enter our guest.
A bright blue robe of fear, they wear,
With a cute green bow of envy
And a pocket book of regrets,
Marked, ‘sent with love, Life’.

Dubious of hope, we shut ourselves!
What if we meet The One?
What if she had met another One?
What if we try and fail and fear
To love again, cause, we know for sure
There is none else in a world of billions?

Perfect is yet another horizon.
A rainbow whose pot of gold we yearn.
We run for joy in circles when fun
Always stayed put at its center, so meek.
Another joke? Bravo!
Thanks, I’ll laugh when I feel funny.

Gosh! These random thoughts, as always
Come and throttle my neck,
‘till my hands assure them salvation with words.
I write- to live free from guilt.
A passive voice is a treacherous thief
that mugs the sanity of insane beings.