Doubt

The poetic expression below, in an attempted Kahlil Gibran style, has been inspired by the 2008 Oscar nominee film 'Doubt.' Each verse describes an extracted scene from the film. Just got into the mood, that's all...no offence intended...

Envelope in hand,
her head bent,
dry leaves rustling around
the young lady, seated on a hard bench outdoors,
her face blushing from
embarrassment
in the company of the opposite sex.

Opening the cigarette case,
he took out a stick shamelessly
and put it in his mouth tasting of holy water;
savouring every pull,
every puff of the unholy smoke,
the man,
confident of companionship.

She shifted in her seat,
closer to him.
Both dressed in a black robe,
eyes squarely meeting eyes,
he pushed sense into her doubtful mind
of his kindness to the boys.

Up she stood,
tears welled up in her eyes;
her book tightly held close to her chest.
Turning to him, standing upright,
she assured him of her trust in him.
He smiled and thanked her, cigarette in hand,
relieved of the guilt thrust on him
by the doubtful minds of his holy kind.

The adolescent black boy – the only of his kind,
Shyly walked among the glittering white adolescent faces.
The teacher checked if he was listening.
He had no answer to her questions.
It angered her.
She was confused again -
whether to trust or not to trust.

He that the wind finally took away and
he had to say goodbye
with a heavy heart and
shake of hands.

An old lady in black holy robe
sorted out her precious decoratives
on the altar.

The Principal, another old lady-in-black, sat on a bench,
in the cold snowy surrounding.
The young lady cum teacher had just arrived back from home
where she had gotten away to rest in peace.
She wished she could be like the old lady, for
unlike the old lady she couldn’t sleep anymore, from
the guilt of accusing the man wrongly.
The old lady believed he was what she thought he was.
The truth she believed to have uncovered with a lie,
shocking the young lady to near heart attack.

The old lady’s doubts remained, nevertheless,
a burden on her chest and
in crying lay her only solace.
The young lady could only
hold her in empathy and
usher her into their home.

While in a distant institute,
the doubted man in holy black robe
had found himself a respectable position.
The doubt had brought him a better life.