“we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
fear-tethered
unity across maps
bereft
of dots
resonates
in unmatched grace
virtual
synergy in cyberspace
kindred
tears, parallel dreams
remain
dressed in their formal best
defying
blackholes of the time
promulgation,
communication
from
sanitized sites of seclusion
from
bondages of quarantine
death in
a hurry, whirlpools of misery
outsides
clad in ghost-shadows
(Goya’s
dead escape from his dark paintings)
but the
insides, in meditative chants
keep the
music on
Vishnu*
beseeched, Indra invoked
earth
rechristened hell
seas
remain formless, skies smothered
the sun
limps on crutches of shadows
universe
measures its memory’s depth
in
recall of moribund songs
of the
savage grippe espagnole**
yet raga
bhairavi*** meanders in
to keep
the music on
heavens
wrapped in grey shrouds
muzzled
beaks of singing larks
thoughts circle broken mirrors
brutal
history carves itself
on the
city’s throbbing face
yet, that infinitesimal spark of hope
eludes
the ferocity of annihilation
to keep the music on
the
wrinkled man whispers love
to moist
eyes of an age-bent wife
“tears
too have dreams” he says
the
third eye of the westward sky
has its
own tale to tell---
homeward
birds are flying in
with the
loving, distant folks and kin
to keep
the music on
past water-rapids, through forest-shades
anticipation
in green embrace
wings
its way to earth’s door--
the rare
orchid will bloom again
herons will fly the sky in flocks
gentle
zephyrs would sing once more
who says
melodies are extinct?
*Known as the preserver, Lord Vishnu is one of three
supreme Hindu deities. Vishnu's role is to protect humans and to restore
order to the world. Indra, in Hindu mythology is the king of gods.
**The Spanish flu of 1918
***Bhairavi is a Hindustani Classical sampurna raga.
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