I’M AN IMPOSTOR

from Defenestration by Indrani Perera

I’m an impostor
dressed in someone else’s clothes 
as I rifle through her wardrobe

I wonder who the hell she really was

And everyone who knew her
says they know me
and they confuse the two of us
for each other

And as soon as they open their mouths
to utter those fateful words
they condemn me to living
that girl’s life 

And I beat against the glass
a moth ineffectually trying
to find a way out
a way out of that room

A room that should be comforting
and familiar
but has become alien nonetheless

A life that goes on around me
whether I want it to or not
sucked into that maelstrom
drawn inexorably back into the mundane

And the bars of gold that imprison me
have lost their allure
and I can’t find anyone
anyone
who seems to care
that I’m an impostor
dressed in someone else’s clothes