Saturday, September 5, 2009

ruins...

once upon a time, they say,
    i stood so tall, so fine, so strong,
and now withered with sands of time,
    i stand alone on a ruined ground

the beauty of my past remains,
    in glimpses of my memories,
in the stories told, some false, some true,
    i trace my journey ever anew

my walls though weak, my roof though leaks,
    my heart, of strength and spirit speaks,
my outward pomp and charm though lost,
    my inner soul still glory seeks

a crown of flowers adorned me once,
    engulfed me in their gentle spell,
now weeds surround me and more,
    trying to make up for the charm

my arms have cradled many a soul,
    who came to seek my shelter then,
now an endless wait is all i have,
    to be a refuge to a wandered soul

the world awaits a bright luminous day,
    after every dark and dreary night
and so i wait for my day of life,
    to be mixed to dust and born again.....


1 comment:

Ketan said...

"now an endless wait is all I have,
to be a refuge to a wandered soul"


Those are my favorite lines, don't know why! Maybe because of the inherent irony, that the refuge is seeking a refugee!

I'd read this poem the day you'd published it, somewhat in a hurry, and then reading it again just stayed at the back of my mind.

Of course, just now I read it yet again, and it's really thought- and emotion-provoking (sorry, am having to invent adjectives; 'evocative' did not seem to capture the sense of 'emotion-provoking). Thought-provoking because I'd never really paid attention to any ruins. Never thought what it might be thinking!

You know initially, I was trying to correlate how this poem could be an allegory to your own life. And then, something didn't seem right. I told myself, "hold on!" Couldn't this be read a bit more at a face value? As in, you would be actually describing what a dilapidated monument feels? And then I could enjoy the true beauty of this poem! :)

I used to write simple poems about inanimate objects. But with time I'd outgrown those poems. I thought it silly to try to inject emotions where there were none! But today, reading your poem I realized I've not grown, but I've lost something. This simplicity in thoughts. I might have been trying to always fish for symbolism, to come up with most elaborate analogies, but yet, all it indicates is only a loss of that child in me. :(

Today, at least momentarly, I'm envious of you! I'm a pretty satisfied person otherwise, so you could gauge, that is a very huge compliment I'm paying you.

TC.