Tag Archives: saatyaki

Flowers and Silences

a poem by Seshendra Sharma

The dim darkness
the diffused light
dimness of one merging into the other
imparting more length to the long trees
that are standing like stretched out shadows
wearing stars in their hair
silence is imparting more depth to the darkness in this advaita
where darkness is merged into silence
my mind wakes up
now not only sound
but even a ray of light is a violent disturbance to the profoundness of peace
in such moments deep truths unveil themselves
now I realise it is not sound but in silence melody lives

I am born out of flowers and silences
while passing my hand brushed against a flower
I asked ‘are you bruised?
‘‘Me or you’ smiling, the flower questioned back
the heart of my pen broke and split blood;
I do not know which paper can bear this pen-
In the gigantic silences of forests,
which touch the blue skies,
the carpenter bird pecks at the trunks of great trees which echo,
far reaching sounds-what can he do among the tiny crotons?
I ate days like fruits-now I eat drops of tears like grapes
frightened by the sun took refuge under shades
sitting on the pavement eating dreams from eyes like ice cream with spoons
measuring my life with dark evenings
I distributed my wealth once with metres,
now I scatter with handfuls
my future letting it fly in all directions-

I washed my heart in tears and dried it over poetry
walked past wearing people on my body like shawls
in the assemblies of flames;
in countries abroad I raised my gypsy voice
and sang mixing earth and sky
this country is the graveyard of my genius
however fast I walk
the distance remains the same.
This land is thirsty for my blood
it is snoring in the little shades of pigmy trees
I picked my pen and dipped it in the sun
to write a summer song for my nation