Do not look
to the future.
It needn't necessarily come.
The present is now,
whether you like it or not.
Disbelieve what smart people tell you
Past is the only truth.
The past is yours, yours alone,
Undeniably, unchangeably,
Indelible, burned onto your brain,
Scarring it forever.
On a summer morning
Shake it all down on a mat,
Lay it on the sun,
Warming,
Watch it turn brittle,
Shrink and twist,
Matted with dust.
Hunched, on your haunches,
Head propped up by hands,
Watch it curl and shrivel.
When night falls,
Gather them -
The leftovers of your life.
****** Balachandran, Trivandrum 09-01-2009
I am doing research in this topic nowadays, Balan. Scars need not be forever. This is one thing over which I differ. Then you come to the key. Watch it, watch it as a fact without wishing change. Put it under the bright sun. Then you will find it "shrink and twist, curl and shrivel" and finally vanish. You will have to journey through the dark alleys of your past making amends--not by saying sorry, but by reaching a stage where you truly feel sorry and grudge is replaced by love. You will also have to close old debts (remember the Rs.100 you borrowed from me last July?). Only after doing all these will you be let in.
ReplyDeleteThis poem has immense depth. Hats off!
I am doing research in this topic nowadays, Balan. Scars need not be forever. This is one thing over which I differ. Then you come to the key. Watch it, watch it as a fact without wishing change. Put it under the bright sun. Then you will find it "shrink and twist, curl and shrivel" and finally vanish. You will have to journey through the dark alleys of your past making amends--not by saying sorry, but by reaching a stage where you truly feel sorry and grudge is replaced by love. You will also have to close old debts (remember the Rs.100 you borrowed from me last July?). Only after doing all these will you be let in.
This poem has immense depth. Hats off!
Venu
Hi "leftover treasurer",
ReplyDeleteGood one.
It is a variation from the "precious present" thinking.
Vijay
It is part of the "precious present" thinking. Only when you are free from the past can you be in the present. It is easily said that done. It will take constant watching and training of the mind to reach that stage. I am aware, but it is not yet mine. Not yet.
ReplyDelete