chinnysthoughts: A Public Cremation Ground

chinnysthoughts: A Public Cremation Ground

Swan Song

It was her swan-song.
She sang all night,
Swaying in the wind
Life flowing in her veins

A song of rain and sun.
A song of spring and blossoms.
She sang, in homage
To the joy throbbing in her heart.

A solitary figure singing
In divine oblivion
Her limbs, trembling with life,
Glistened in the dewy dawn.

In the morn, they came.
They came with saws and axes.
They climbed upon her,
Tore her limbs apart.

Trod upon her tender blossoms.
Then her heart burst.
Her life-blood flowed out,
A warm sweet torrent.

With a sigh and a sob, she fell.
Satiated, they left her there.
A fragrance lingering in the air,
A memory passing into the soil.

In the middle of the night
when the jackals go to sleep
And, the crickets become silent
I'll die.
Do not tell then
the reason
why i died
They'll spit on my grave
even before the dampness
is gone.
They'll place no flowers,
say no prayers,
My bones will lie
loveless, friendless,
after they spit on my grave.
So, do not tell them
I died for
Love betrayed.

Feb 2010

The heart stops.
The brain shuts down.
Blood congeals.
Life's puffed out.
Emotions thoughts
Attitudes instincts
Rational irrational
Nothing matters.

The stink sets in-
The decay starts,
Eau de cologne,
Agarnbathis,
Prayers,
Hymns,
Silk, satin,
Flowers, wreaths,
Putrefaction camouflaged
puts on
a look of spirituality-
of peace.
Then, with due solemnity,
measure and sobriety-
Life and life after death-
Death and spirituality-
Man and God-
Scents, Sounds, Sights,
Sealed securely.
with a label
for identification
cause afterwards-
The skin-slimy. oozing fluids
take away individuality.
hair, teeth hold on
to self-ness-
in ther dark, dank dreadful
cavern of non identity

25/2/2000

A Public Cremation Ground

I saw it
in a flash
through the tinted glass
as i whizzed by
in cooled, hushed comfort.

My eyes caught
the mounds of ashes
here and there.

There were two pyres
waiting
a little apart.

A few mourners at the foot.
Red shroud and flowers
visible
here and there
Lamp and agarbathis
almost burnt out.
My eyes devoured
all
and, I could feel
the impatience of the living
to get along with life
reaching out
all the way
to me.

Withdrawal

The temperature drops
first, in the heart
then, in the extremities.
A few parts are kept
warm
to sustain life.
but, the rest
frozen.
A touch, a push
can splinter
the icy parts.
The process of thawing
in the usual way
in this instance
is out of question.

Pokhran

21/05/1998
This pokhran BUSINESS
that the country is so
excited about-
Nuclear club- capability-
Radioactive fallout-
Arms race- C.T.B.T-
economic sanctions-
What's all the brouhaha?
There are so many words
being thrown around.
How many of the billion
Indians
know what all this
hue and cry is about?
What do fission and fusion
mean to them - when
they toil and moil,
to keep the wolf away
from their doorsteps-
When a square meal a day
seems a distant dream.
Honestly-
let me ask you-
When your tomorrows
are painted
with hunger
and pain
and sweat-
Isn't

POKHRAN

a trifle affair to talk about?