Shadows

(Courtesy: PVR - who has such fantastic snapping prowess)

Once I lived,
Once I thrived...
In a blossomed field,
Where cherubs jived...

The world was mine,
In a million hues...
And mind was free,
It hath no rues...

Twice I fumbled,
Twice I fell...
Searching respite,
Amidst that spell...

And then I ran-
In wilderness vast...
'cause shadows hath me,
Shadows from the past...

Thrice I turned,
Thrice I strived...
To adore the field,
Where cherubs had jived...

And all I saw,
Was shadows and flames...
In a chequered time -
With all its frames...


Babble
=======
1. Originally titled "Scarecrows".

2. My nightmares - demystified.

3. As an afterthought, I realized that I could relate to "once" and "twice" as cardinal numbers : ))) Weird.

4. Yeah... I have a thing or two for running around in the wilderness... and shouting my heart out from the top a cliff... and such things.

5. Apologies to those who think its too negative... It wasnt intended to be read by the weak hearted ;D ... and I am not... I repeat I AM NOT legally responsible for whatever turbulence in emotions it causes you!

6. If you think that theres a "fourth"... then of course there is : ))))))... but you'll have to coax me into telling that ;). The poem in its current form is *incomplete* :)

Solitude

(Frederick Church, Twilight in the Wilderness, 1860)

In the wilderness beyond the moor,
Far from eyes in an unknown spoor...
With wayward shadows in vapory light,
By fleeting spirits in depths of night...
...Lives she...

Fields of corn swaying in wind,
Gurgling streams which thoughts rescind...
A neverland which befits a maid,
This sapphire sky, those jewels inlaid...
...Left she...

In this decadence and dread,
Treachery, delusion and hatred...
She dreams of times long gone by,
Of memories trapped in every sigh...
...Longs she...

Yet there nurtures a firm resolve,
Of waning darkness, when sins absolve...
There are signs, which happiness bode,
In her thoughts, in her abode...
...Lingers she...


Babble
=======
1. Yeah I'm still alive... and still kicking... and still...
(In case it wasnt apparent, the stress is on the word "still")

2. Contrary to what might appear in first read, I did not read Peter Pan in Neverland last night.
Also, neither did I mistakenly make the mistake of watching a horror movie.

3. Why a female protagonist? Eh..interesting question... but sorry, no answer.
I'm still in flux as to why I chose to do it. However, if by any chance, the thought that I might be cultivating a female alter ego crosses someones mind, then I'm willing to entertain the idea... *devilish chuckle*.

4. Like the previous poem, this also follows the... emm... let me put it in the form of an alliteration - Hell, Heaven, Harrow, Hope pattern.

5. If you care about the meter used then, well... the meter is in beta phase technically speaking. I seek to write lines 3,4 and 5 of every paragraph in such a manner that 3,4 when read together seem to be in continuation and so do 4,5. Of course 3,4 follow the standard AA meter. Sorry again, its a fetish I cant get rid of.
..... And the Petrarchan Meter in many earlier poems has (finally)been put into cold storage for the time being.

Mea Culpa

(Picture Courtesy: Friend and Friend of Friend)

A dream once dreamt,
And a valiant attempt...
Of heaven on earth,
And of life full of mirth...

Its time to surmise...
Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!


A dream gone bad,
Of riches almost had...
Its remnant scattered lies,
In front of mistful eyes...

Its time to agonise...
Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!


A call of tempered will,
This hope of salvage still...
To rise and take,
The gleaming destined fate...

Its the time of uprise,
Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!


Shimmering utopia in sight,
...And the end of all spite...
Only a few steps away,
Lies salvation on this way...

Its the time of reprise...
Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!


Babble
=======

Now for the explanantion. The usual set of clarifications first.

"Mea Culpa" = "My Mistake"
- originally part of a Roman Catholic prayer in Latin
but made famous in our times by the Enigma album.

The poem is structured in four separate paragraphs to convery four different states of mind.

First: The Dream
Second: The Shattering of a dream
Third: The Hope
Fourth: The Calmness when the goal is in sight.

These four thoughts run intertwined with another persistent thought which arises out of a guilt... possibly because of some mistake committed in life. Happens to all of us... really. Once a mistake... always a mistake with the accompanying nag of "My Mistake". In other words "Mea Culpa".

Why this pic?
- Because of the blankness in expression, especially the longing and calm eyes. With enough of hyperactive imagination, the girl can be imagined to be in any of the four states mentioned before.
(Ok... just to reiterate, I've put the "hyperactive imagination" discalimer).

Why do I bother to explain?
- After bugging AA for a "Mea Culpa" themed pic and almost getting on his nerves, this pic was revealed. No second thoughts after that.
The pic is too beautiful to leave lines unexplained as I imagined them :)

Thanks to AA and his friend!

The Sorceress

(Picture Courtesy: Well... the Sorceress)

You who don this crimson hue,
In this morning, in this dew...
Revers thee, worships you...
Genesis all- in this view..

Lissome lips, slender breath,
A swan's song- in its death...
Eyes gazellic in this gaze,
Benumbing senses as they faze...


Frozen lieth this travail,
Like ships at rest, no wind on sail...
The ether floweth but to convey,
Thy fragrance bizarre for hearts to sway...


A thousand different suns they glow,
And misty streams in fervence flow...
Lost I lie in this ocean I see,
Thy spell is it.. Or a delirious me?

Aeons of wait, ages of restraint,
Worn demeanor- and a soul of taint...
Deliver me! O' Sorceress supreme!
In throes I exist, solicit thy gleam...


Babble
=======
1. The sorceress is already taken ;). Sorry folks. Cant do anything about it now.

2. "Deliver me! O' Sorceress supreme!" - best imagined as uttered by a man on the edge of a cliff.

3. I was NOT drunk when I wrote this... although I did recently receive a comment on the 'drunkenness' in my writings. :-))))

4. As the lore goes, a Swan's Song refers to the beautiful and captivating song sung by a mute swan in its death.

5. Ah! sorceress.... sorceress.... sorceress....

C'est La Vie

(Picture Courtesy: Google and the Namibian Desert)

I fall and I walk,
With silence do I talk...
In pain oft I writhe,
With a cheshire smile blithe...

And when moments seem bleak,
I see a shining streak...
Wandering all the time,
I drag shackles in this grime...

---

Life ain't fair,
It sets thee in despair...
In despairs such as these,
I seek the subtle glees...


...this desert far and wide,
Where I journey and I bide...
In this thaw and this freeze,
I'm an incessant breeze...

---

So I wonder on my trail,
Of finale and the grail...
Salvation yonder, here spree,
C'est La Vie, C'est La Vie...


Babble
======

Answers to FAQs:

1. C'est La Vie = Such is Life

2. No, I havent lost the plot.

3. Yes, I am still running short of inspirations.

Blue Moon

(Picture Courtesy: Moon)


In a lucid moment in time,
Thoughts still...
An eager will-
Exuberance all and air sublime...

Silvery coins with bluish chime,
Their subtle thrill...
...in innocuous chill-
It all seemed a stupendous mime...


Not to mention this aura azure,
The blue moon,
The avid urge to croon...
Eyes demure,
An impending boon...
And echoing words- I'll have thee soon...

Babble
======

1. For a change I decided it'd be trendy NOT to be
the weeping philosopher at least once.

2. Of course the poem is about the blue moon.
This year started off with a blue moon FYI.

3. I've been writing less lately but dont blame me.

                 --- 8X ---
Me: "I really really really need some inspiration...
If I dont get any inspiration... god knows what
I'll do... God I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"

friend1: "Ha ha ha... hee hee hee :D"
                 --- X8 ---

                 --- 8X ---
Me: "I really really really need some inspiration...
If I dont get any inspiration... god knows what
I'll do... God I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"

friend2(pitifully): "I understand you..."

Me: "emmm...of course..."
                 --- X8 ---

                 --- 8X ---
Me1: "I really really really need some inspiration...
If I dont get any inspiration... god knows what
I'll do... God I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"

Me2: "I heard the grocers shop o'er there sells inspirations..."

Me1(blushing): "Hard luck... rotten inspirations those... fresh where?"
                 --- X8 ---