Sunday, August 16, 2020

THIS THEN IS THAT POEM

There has to be a poem
For that poet
Whose heart bleeds with sorrow
For an unknown man
Who dreading he had that COVID thing
Jumped off a hospital building
And met with a tragic fate
Before the test results came in
And declared his status negative.

There has to be a poem
For the poet who wept bitterly
And wrote a beautiful poem
For the girl who died
After she was thrown off a bus
By its conductor
Fearing she had the COVID curse.

There has to be a poem
For this poet with the goodness of soul
To spare a thought for the least of his brethren
Their bereaved families, their loved ones
And weep and write a lovely poem
For all those whose voices are crushed.

There has to be a poem for that poet
Who wrote so boldly
Even as an oblivious nation
Soaked in its venality
Suffering from a virus
Worse than COVID
Glued to its tv sets

For a minute by minute update
About the medical condition
Of a celebrity father-son duo
Who tested positive and are getting
The best of care in a super-specialty hospital
And God willing shall come out unscathed.

This then is that poem for that great Mahakavi...

A great human being
Master of verses
Painter of life
Activist of humanity
Terror of the oppressors

This is that poem for that poet
Who sings for the unsung
Who keeps writing fearlessly
For all the oppressed of this world.

This is that poem for that one of a kind poet
Who writes tirelessly, endlessly
All those powerful poems
For those who are too tired, too weak
To chisel out their tragic tales
On the walls of human arrogance.

O Murari!

Thou hast closed those bright lotus eyes
and shut me out Krishna
Yet the ghost of a peacock feathered smile
haunts thy blue lips still...
The golden flute too has fallen silent
The temple doors that slammed shut
are closed today...

Locked out in this lockdown, a strange darkness engulfs me.

Heartless slayer of demons!
You mock my despair!
How long will you keep me waiting
outside in this rain like a vagabond?
Won't you wake up from this fake slumber
and let me in my Lord?

Are you waiting for my hot tears
to seep beneath the temple doors
to flood your sanctum sanctorum?
Krishna, stop this cruel hide and seek!
Don't hide behind a virus playing Mayavi!

The mind is in tumult and the heart heavy.
In this lockdown, you have wrenched my soul
and plucked a darling sibling from me.
I cursed you for a fleeting moment,
forgetting how you had heard my pleas
not to cause him any suffering.

For years, I have come here for daily darshan
Nowhere else will I find my solace Madhava...
Forgive me for doubting you, albeit briefly
Am neither a Melpattur nor a Poonthanam
to appease thee with refined verses
Won't my tears suffice to grant me darshan?

Keshava, please wake up and allow me
to prostrate once again at thy lotus feet.

Don't let me dissolve in my sorrows.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

The Mad Hatter’s Town

The streets, they wore
a blank and ghastly look
Except for one lone masked Piper
Not a single soul was to be seen
He was shouting out to one and all
“Bhai aur Beheno, sab kuch teek hai,
daro mat, daro mat! Mujhe vishwas karo!”
The Mad Hatter, the Lady Mayor,
too was nowhere to be seen
(that Hatta, she was out somewhere
trying hard to haggle her worn out
sweaty hat for a 10 shillings and 6 pence deal).
The black rat was relieved
that the plague was not his kinds’,
at least this time around.
“Bhai aur Beheno, sab kuch teek hai,,
daro mat, daro mat! Mujhe vishwas karo!
I’ll take you all to distant Aidenn,
a safe and secure haVen.
Quick quaff this kind nepenthe
and come ye all with me.”
The Piper kept on shouting
at the top of his silly voice
but not a single soul
stirred outta their homes.
The rat looked askance at the raven
perched comfily on a treetop
“Can I take this Piper for his word?” he asked
“Nevermore! Nevermore!”
was all that he would
condescend to utter back.
Suddenly a grinning black Cheshire cat
outta nowhere it appeared
on a tree branch beneath the raven’s perch
he hung and he swung.
“Can I take the Piper for his word?”
asked the bewildered rat again
“The answer, my friend,
is blowin’ in the wind,
the answer is blowin’ in the wind”
was all that the cat would say to him
and disappear while its grin
still lingered for a while.
The pesky rat was at its wit's end.
“Bhai aur Beheno, sab kuch teek hai,,
daro mat, daro mat! Mujhe vishwas karo! ”
shrieked the Piper once again.
“Nevermore! Nevermore!”
the raven muttered as it flew off.
“The Hatta fled the town,
all men and their women -
they’re down and they’re stayin’ in,
a virus is on its prowl,
and still, you wanna believe
this swindler with a mask?”
The cat’s grin was wider and broader,
it was playing a cat and mouse game.
“The answer, my friend,
is blowin’ in the wind,
the answer is blowin’ in the wind”
it said again and again as it disappeared
with its slow fading grin.
The poor rat had had enough.
Petrified it fled.
The Piper too fell silent.
It was scary stayin’ alone.
Then the enormity of his false bravado
dawned upon his face!
He threw his pipe and ran
and was never seen again.
The Virus had its sway,
it felled all it chose to kill.
Tears flowed, washed the streets
yet the virus had no remorse.
When the Mad Hatter heard
what her townsfolk had suffered
with a yell and a cuss word
she rode her donkey fast!
When the Mad Hatter returned,
with her trademark hat no more
the wind was blowin’ in her hair
and it was dancing widely in the air.
When the Mad Hatter returned
with tears streaming down her face
half the town was dead,
the other half was in mourning
but they were glad to have her back
they were glad to have her back.
-------------------------------------------

#NaPoWriMo TSL
Prompt --19 

INSOMNIA (2)

You are that fragrant rose petal
that the wind blew into my face.
You took away a tiny bit of my soul
when you flew away.
Ever since I have wandered
in search of this lost completeness.
Spent and tired I staggered lost
into this watering hole.
They’ll throw me out at ten-thirty sharp!
They’ll throw me out at ten-thirty sharp!
And again I’ll wander through these unlit streets
seeking you everywhere.
These streets, where once we used to loiter
hand in hand as lovers, now my only refuge!
I’m sorry I had to put on a mask those days
assuming yours too to be a false façade.
Your memories! They impale me to a cross
like sharp piercing nails.
Your tears, are they dripping even tonight?
Won’t you give me back my lost sleep ever again?
A translation of my Malayalam poem 'Nidravihinatha'
(Insomnia) published in the March 2020 issue of
the Haritha Keralam magazine.

HE AND SHE

He
Climbed that mountain
Wearing a Lydian ring
And scaled the peaks of success
Trampling on lives, backstabbing allies and mentors
Corrupt and venal to the core
Success was his only mantra
And power his lodestar
He had what it takes
To make it big in the world of politics
- An absolute ‘deficit of morals’.
The determined outcome of all his ventures
Was self-promotion
For which he would not hesitate
To create any commotion
Religion and fanaticism his weapons
He would manipulate the masses
Fool them with lies and deceit,
Mesmerize with his oratory to loot, rape and kill
And then laugh like a demon
Whilst the blood of innocents spilled.
The unlimited power he wielded
Made him seem invincible against tears even.
She
Whom he had discarded long ago
Pleaded with him at each stage with folded hands
To retract from this self-destruction
A conciliation she always yearned
He was like a god to her.
He
Laughed her away with his brutal laugh
And the men and the women who surrounded him
They laughed too and clapped their hands
Lit diyas for him and told him all what he wanted to hear
You! The glorious you! The one and only you!
Who can do nothing wrong!
Misology became his hallmark.
She
The poor she waited and waited in vain
Hoping he would be back someday…
But many other Shes told him
He was better looking than Agathon
And he wore monogrammed suits fit for monarchs
And believed them blindly, till..
He
Was petrified one day
When the walls of his citadel were breached
And karma dethroned him
Disinheritance from glory
Was history’s revenge as democracy prevailed!
The cloak of invincibility and invisibility
Was ripped off as the Lydian ring was snatched away.
Nemesis caught up as his Brutus and Cassius conspired
The cheerleaders vanished while mobs bayed for his blood
Unwanted, unwelcome he fled in disgrace
Wandering through the red desert,
A refugee from life.
She
Who had seen all this coming
And had feared for him, was no more.
Drowned in her tears she had departed long back.
He
Longed to make amends but she was beyond his reach
Bedraggled he reached the banks of Mandakini
Nobody recognized him now; neither did he crave it
Life in a cave as an ascetic was strangely peaceful
He had only one wish, to connect with his She
Whom he had ridiculed; at least in an afterworld alliance.
He begged her forgiveness day and night
He meditated but eudaimonia eluded him
One sunset, as usual, he dipped in the cold waters of Mandakini
And spied two feathered lovers as he came out
Saw them romancing in the evening sky.
Suddenly an arrow felled one.
“MA NISHADAAA” he thundered!
There was a pin drop silence.
Ataraxia descended on him
And she smiled from the heavens.
Disclaimer: Both the He and the She in this poem are fictitious characters and any trace of similarity if any to persons living or dead are totally unintended and coincidental.

Note: Diya - a small cup-shaped oil lamp made of baked clay

I Too Had A Dream

I too had a dream that I forgot when I woke up
It recurred again once and was etched in mind forever.
It was life on another shore where all lived in peace
In perfect harmony between man and wilderness.
Gods never came that way to set any man against his brother
The waves that washed those shores were calm and gentle too.
Life was laid back, needs were meager, all had enough and more
We were lazing on the beach one day as giant waves struck.
Terrified and paralyzed not knowing what to do!
Some who tried to flee were killed but many of us were spared.
Came some strangers to our shore to tell us we had sinned
Repent or their God will bring many more harm to us.
Another group came rushing in to say that they were wrong
The real God was theirs alone and asked us to follow him.
In utter disarray, the survivors were split in two
Some went with the first team’s God others with the second.
It took not much longer for both these groups to clash
As seeds of bitter enmity were sown between the two.
I tried to broker peace and pronto both turned against me
I fled with all my speed and woke up from the dream.
Still, I wish to dream this dream again and reason with my friends
Still, I wish to dream this dream again and reason with my friends.

Friday, April 3, 2020

When Nature Rained A Pandemic

I script the story of these times
When death was renamed COVID 19
Hades overflowed even in peacetimes
While it laughed like a deranged queen.
It spared no nation rich or poor
Neither man nor woman of any station
The virus swept through every door
Between none, it made a differentiation
When nature rained a pandemic
The entire world cowered in terror
Everywhere the panic was endemic
Even the bravest fled in its horror
Each nation tried to shield its own
Closed its borders to the world
Many were stranded in that lockdown
Yearned for glory of the days of old
I write to please no master now
Knocked down by a quirk of fate
We reap the fruits of what we sow
Wars and religions spewing hate
Helpless before a common foe
Shove your religion up your ass
Never let Gods divide as of yore
Unite to let this danger pass.
Please unite to let this danger pass!