Uncle Benu's Ghost

Uncle Benu preferred his evenings alone When sun touched the western horizon He would make himself a cup of tepid milk And without showing a sign of worldly care Would retire to his easy chair. Then he was the most difficult man to approach Occasionally swiping at the flying cockroach And microbat intruding into the room Accompanying him in that night-lamp gloom. What he brooded was never known to me To me he was a ghost and as scary Quietly waiting in that darkened zone If ever a living soul stepped in alone! The only time I called him I would ever recall As he moved his head towards me And it still haunts me on lonely-bed nights The eyes were all white! Nobody believed me None in my family Not even mum She only said Do you too like him take opium?