(with due tribute to Pablo N)
I have ignored you for long
my dear friend.
You have been with me all this while,
walked with me through the garden
and the cesspool.
Up in the hills, the thin air
burnt you dry but you loved it;
and then deep in the womb of mother earth,
you were choked with sulphur and tears
but you did not close yourself for my sake.
my dear friend.
You have been with me all this while,
walked with me through the garden
and the cesspool.
Up in the hills, the thin air
burnt you dry but you loved it;
and then deep in the womb of mother earth,
you were choked with sulphur and tears
but you did not close yourself for my sake.
Often you protested
when I fell unduly asleep and others heard you;
but not me.
You could not wake me up. I wish you did.
I grudge you that my dear friend.
when I fell unduly asleep and others heard you;
but not me.
You could not wake me up. I wish you did.
I grudge you that my dear friend.
I thank you for your undying service of 44 years 9 months and 2 days.
But I grudge you that.You do not talk to me.
Sometime,
when I should set my eyes free
over an unending pasture rolling to meet the horizon,
I can’t see beyond you.
when I should set my eyes free
over an unending pasture rolling to meet the horizon,
I can’t see beyond you.
And then
there are moments,
when I can’t see what’s lying there just under you
for me to see, acknowledge and embrace.
there are moments,
when I can’t see what’s lying there just under you
for me to see, acknowledge and embrace.
You do not talk to me,
do not show me the direction to look at
with the index finger that you do not have.
You sulk for being ignored;
you are hurt assuming that I hate you,
for your obscene rotundity,
for your telltale signage of my mysterious hilly ancestry.
do not show me the direction to look at
with the index finger that you do not have.
You sulk for being ignored;
you are hurt assuming that I hate you,
for your obscene rotundity,
for your telltale signage of my mysterious hilly ancestry.
But how can I not love you?
You are my mother’s biggest gift to me,
you are what I have passed on to my daughter.
What am I without you?
Who am I without you?
Who will they remember when my photographs fade,
and virus hacks the .jpg files?
You or me?
You are my mother’s biggest gift to me,
you are what I have passed on to my daughter.
What am I without you?
Who am I without you?
Who will they remember when my photographs fade,
and virus hacks the .jpg files?
You or me?
Don’t envy the eyes for their power of distraction.
Don’t envy my tongue for its dual rein on me,
one that robs my health in exchange of pleasure, and
the other that makes me a fool while I think it gives me greatness.
Don’t envy my ears as I pay too much attention to all the noise that comes through them.
And don’t envy the all encasing leather that teases, pleases, cuts, burns, and hurts
but also protects me.
He’s the one who is less loved than you.
Don’t envy my tongue for its dual rein on me,
one that robs my health in exchange of pleasure, and
the other that makes me a fool while I think it gives me greatness.
Don’t envy my ears as I pay too much attention to all the noise that comes through them.
And don’t envy the all encasing leather that teases, pleases, cuts, burns, and hurts
but also protects me.
He’s the one who is less loved than you.
Don’t envy them my dear friend.
I promise I will pay more attention to you,
but please talk to me.
I promise I will pay more attention to you,
but please talk to me.
Next time please show me where to look,
tell me how to smell chance,
teach me how to smell rejection, deception and hurt,
send signals to me through your short passage
when love comes and goes,
and,
as they say, “last but not the least”,
give me the gift of smelling the lucre.
tell me how to smell chance,
teach me how to smell rejection, deception and hurt,
send signals to me through your short passage
when love comes and goes,
and,
as they say, “last but not the least”,
give me the gift of smelling the lucre.
Stay where you are,
ahead of me,
right in the middle
and show me the unwavering way forward.
ahead of me,
right in the middle
and show me the unwavering way forward.
I bow to thee my nose.
tat twam asi.
tat twam asi.
