“through the act of living, the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us. . ."

Friday, February 11, 2011

Birthday Brood




Standing before my bookshelves

I gaze at the books fondly.

I remember you, I tell one,

Do you, the nights we spent together?

You made me laugh, cry, you made me angry

And yet you gave me peace too, and great joy!

Yes, yes, I nod at another, you too, of course.

They all look back at me, smiling gently,

These souls who have been with me for so long.


I look at them and at those I haven’t read

Perhaps – no, quite likely - never will.


The night is quiet; silence broken only by the old ceiling fan.


Browsing through my CDs, I look at the pictures

The places I have been to, the faces I have seen.

I smile at the old files, remnants of countless attempts

At setting the world right; how wanton I have been with words!

How I had dreamt! How valorous I have been and oh, how naïve!

Here in these pages lie my words, my dreams, myself

Glittering , scattering like confetti in an evening sun.


There are so many places I haven’t seen

So many books I haven’t read

So many songs I haven’t heard

So many things I haven’t done–

Oh! There is so much, so much of love I haven’t had!

**************** Balachandran V, Trivandrum, 11.02.2011

painting courtesy : http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24456032


15 comments:

  1. Lovely! I totally relate to that feeling about books! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely poem @Balachandran V

    I must admit I am unable to relate the title and the painting to the poem. Am I missing something?!

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Agnija: :)

    @NRIGirl: Birthday brooding - It was my birthday.
    Painting - I liked the painting - I hold such scenes close to my heart; and I miss nature, in this concrete jungle!

    ReplyDelete
  4. happy belated bday.. B. yup. miles to go bfore we sleep....

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can relate to all this too. Very well written. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Birthday on the hill top of life. And consider staying there for a while before you start the descend.
    I guess well correlated verses,

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bala,

    A warm birthday wish. Belated yeah!

    And I loved the poem. you have a knack to express those subtle thoughts in such beautiful verses.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful, life in the midst of books. Belated b’day wishes, sir.
    May you see a 1,000 full moons!

    ReplyDelete
  9. happy bday...

    I feel the same whenever I look at my books...sometimes grows so desperate that I want to read all my books together...

    A book unread is like a dessert that was left untasted...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kalpana, Bindu, Arun, Elizabeth, Jyothi - Thanks for the b'day wishes; long may I live, but only so long I am sound in body and mind! :)

    Have declared 2011 as year of travel; already did a couple. This weekend too i will be away in Attappadi. The new photo shows the stream that runs by our ECOFARM land. Spent last weekend there.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Arun,
    books not read- why not see it as Oasis left not walked!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Belated birthday wishes! :)


    Lovely post!

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Balachandran,
    Belated Happy Birthday!
    -Cheriyan

    ReplyDelete
  14. I know i am very very late, but I can't stop wishing you a happy birthday.
    Happy b'day Balachandran sir.

    Just like you, I too love books and CDs

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Leave a word, please!