The Poetry Marathon

Last dance (Let us go then, you and I; Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot)

Let us go then, you and I,

Where slender legs meet the floor

And you teach me and I teach you

The dance that elves know

Among the chattering crowd

Who passes a hoot or two

The feast is laid before the guests

With two empty seats

Waiting for us since eternity

We can see but cannot touch

As our bodies are long gone

And only our spirits remain

Let us fulfill the one last wish

And dance…

Where no one will watch us further

Our spirits will melt into each other

Hour 20

@varenyas

Neurosis (Companion to The Age of Innocence – Hour 9)

The age of innocence

The doll’s play gives way to bigger games

As blasphemy loses its might

When a young girl and her lover

Declare their vows

To be together forever

Conflicting emotions surround them

As they hold each other’s hands

And watch their age of innocence fly away

Neurosis

Innocence is contagious

And I too lie scattered

In the sophistry of the future

As I am

The neurotic edge

Of society

Fallen from the height of

That age of innocence

Hour 19

@varenyas

Dear Sakhi

Dear Sakhi,

There’s no one like you,

And I feel as if

I’m born to touch

Your feelings too;

I saw you standing aside

With a sweet curly smile,

I can’t live without you,

Firmly did I swore;

I bestowed upon you

The tiny red rose

Stolen from my heart’s depth,

And did say I love you.

Your loving Sakha

Hour 18

@varenyas

The Dandelion Seeds

Ready to fly, to be carried away by the wind

The white fireworks of seeds

Selflessly sway to the dance of the divine

Happy to be there, happy to be here

To allow wind to softly blow a touch

They know not their destination or survival

There’s no sorrow or joy of parting

The dandelion seeds revel being carried away like brides

Gracious in their moment of reckoning

Bold and immortal

Hour 17

@varenyas

The final exodus

Peering through the windows

Of my vehicle, I stared …

The pitch darkness outside

Save the distant gleaming lights

The ignis fatuuses.

Foraying into the edge of time

By the dawning red, I waited…

Scavengers descended on my self

And angels holding torches

Led my soul away.

Hour 16

@varenyas

The beginning and the end

The beginning

Raw darkness pervaded elsewhere

Light hidden in its womb

Matter deposited as spirit

Dispersed throughout

And the universe woke up to life

The end

Contradictions annihilated life

And matter dissipated as primordial spirits

Returning to the folds of darkness

Dark years to meet light years

And make and remake life

Hour 15

@varenyas

Even when you’re lost

The land knows you, even when you are lost

In its veins flows your blood

Your spirit embedded in the trees

The voices in the rarified air trapped

You hear calling out to yourself fair and free

The memories since childhood sealed

The water knows you too, even when you are lost

Liquid senses flow into being

Your feet washed clean off travails

The rivers, ponds, lakes act as hosts

Recording the stories of your travels

You know and are now willing

You are not lost anymore

Hour 14

@varenyas

Mondegreen

Hear it out

The green of the day

Becomes chagrin of man

To the degree of degeneration

Hour 13

@varenyas

Three old hermits

Three old hermits, so simple

Arrived on the island

Following a radiant light

Holding hands and running upon the waves

They cried as they reached

And continue to walk on water

(Erasure poem: text taken from Chapter 30, The Law of Miracles, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda)

Hour 12

@varenyas

Dear Former Self

The persona you had then was unique

You looked different every day, every week and every moment

The black eyes of yours drilled inside those you saw

The quirky smile was infectious

And your voice filled with confidence

Where are the shoes that carried you with élan?

Where is the song that asked for tender love?

Where is the air around you that gave flight to freedom?

The lost soul today raises its head

Do you have any answers?

Hour 11

@varenyas