i took the same old path

i took the same old path
trod by millions
knowing well that it will be secure
and the most trouble-free.

but lo, i find myself
bored to death
my each breath wasted to make myself free
out of the clutches of the silly demands
that bricked the house intact…

had i taken the less traveled
i wondered –
may be i would have fallen prey to a tiger
while venturing the forests
or could have got drowned in the current
trying to un-ocean a treasure
or worse, i might have added the number HIV positives
being myself the one..

still that would have been better
than sitting heavily webbed
and shuddering at each drop of demand and accusation
falling on my being, like hammer blows…
that drops on the forehead of a war prisoner
in an unknown cell…

i took the same old path
traveled by multitudes
and pay the price with my life..