On a fiery

flight

  masila

  Thendral publishers

  Chennai 91, India

  masila123@gmail.com

On a fiery

flight

A collection of Poem

masila

26th Sep 2012

To

my wife viji

the best half

Contents

1. The Eleventh Commandment

2. Day of Judgment

3. Lots and Lots

4. Wing

5. Live ye long man

6. Under the shade of Allah

7. A kuil's melody

8. Present Continuous

9. Music of life

10 Trump card

11 A miracle of miracle

12 What do I have not yet?

12 I have thing to do

13 Chandeliers

14 A Haste less hour

15 Half and Half

16 Connoisseur

17 On a fiery flight

The Eleventh Commandment

The gaunt, grey figure of Moses

Was lying reclined on a cushion

Made of rugged rocks

Below him stretched the

Arid terrain of the Promised Land

It was a land of sand dunes

And boulders holding shades

For tiny dots of timid shrubs

The White Specter of death

Hovered around in faint steps

Moses came out of his reverie

And combed his long beard

With knurled fingers

And looked around askance

He raised his bushy brows

As he saw the specter

“Who are you …………….?”

“I am, I am …………….”

Words got stuck in throat

“I am death, a lieutenant, the left hand of God

A trusted, unfailing messenger”

“What is your mission…….?”

Moses snorted

“I have, I have come………

I am afraid, to take your life…..”

A strong stone was flung

In the face of death……..

“Fie on you, get lost, be gone

How dare are you to take my life

Do you know who I am

I am Moses

The Prophet who saw

God face to face

The only one

To whom god spoke and

Delivered Ten Commandments

To whom red sea laid red carpet

Be gone, Be gone

Don’t you ever dare to

Ring a gong of death

As you won’t to do to the rest

Be gone………..”

The Angel of Death ran

Helter skelter to God

And blurted out

God whispered a few lines

In the ears of the Angel

It hovered around Moses

Again after a few years

“Be gone, I told you

Never come back to me”

“I have come back

With a special message from God

As you are too dear to god

He wants you to be with him close….”

“You mean God wants me

To be with Him…….”

“Yes, you are right…..

“When do I meet Him?

And how long I stay with Him

For, I have to come back

To guide my people

I am ready to go with you even now”

Moses was about to

Heave his heavy body up.

“God wants you permanently ...”

Said the Angel

There was silence

An ominous silence

Moses, the wise

Knew the meaning and purport of

Those four words

“Do you mean that

I too must die……

“Ye, any born must die….

It is the law of nature

Without a grain of exception”……….

The Angle hastened to add

“Though God has given you

A certain special privilege

As you are too dear to him………”

The Angel ran in double and

Dragged a hefty bison

“Here is the full grown bull

Strike your hand and

Pluck the hair as much

As your hand could seize

You can live as many days

As the count of hair strands……….”

“It could be a few thousands days

But then………”

“Yes, you may die

After a few thousands days

Or a few scores of years

But must you die

Like any mortal…….”

There was long silence

“Well, then, if that is so

I am ready to die even now…..

I am tired of this life, tired

With this stupid set of people

They do not change

They still hunger after

Gold, women, and cold wine

Parading cows and calves as gods….

I am losing hope……”

“Then why did you want

To live long……..

Angel retorted

“I had a hope that

I will be able to change them

I had a great hope of

Taking them to lofty lives……...

Well now………I give up……..”

There was silence

A long one

For it took some time for the words

To sink into the head and heart of Death

They went deep down

“Oh, great venerable Moses,”

Death was earnest

“You must die with hopes

As much as you live with hopes….”

There was a silence

A long one, again

The message went down the spine

Percolating through the veins

Moses smiled, a wry smile

“Is it a commandment?

The eleventh one…………

From the Angel of death’’

The old man chuckled

“Yes, I agree

I will die with the hopes

As much as I had lived with hopes……..”

Angel of death smiled

And came towards him

In soft steps

Like a moist mountain cloud.

The Day of Judgment

There is only one Day of Judgment For everybody of Every hue and color

Every religion, beliefs, and non beliefs That is the Day when

Hundreds and thousands Cry desolate In muffled hot wet towels

When, the heart skips its steps Breathe seizes, and chokes And a lava of heart air Blows out, surge upon surge.

When tens and dozens Vie with each other To carry the pall

When hundreds and thousands Stream past and scream fast When thousands and thousands mumble "He lived and died well,

Exalting everyone"

This is the Verdict A pronouncement On this

Day of Judgment.

Present Continuous

There were two men in a coconut farm;

One was on the top plucking coconuts from the tall tree,

The other was on the ground gathering them into the

basket.

“My nephew is supposed to pass along us in his cart now;

But he has not come yet” the ground man was

grumbling.

“No don’t worry, he is coming……” the man on the

tree top said

After a whale, the coconuts gatherer said.

"Oh, yes, here is he………”

After some more times, the nephew passed through

the road

“Oh, my nephew came and has gone’ the gatherer said.

“No, no, don’t worry, he is going……..”

But another nephew of your is coming”

The man on the top said.

Music Of Life

Once upon a time

There was a king

He had everything to be happy

But was not happy

A strong fort, strong army

A country of milk and honey

A harem of score and more

Yet, he felt empty

He came across a monk

In one of his escapade into the wilderness

The monk was walking in ease

On a wooden pair of sandals

He had only a long piece of robe

Wound around the frail body

Yet, there was a halo around his head

Happiness and serenity brightening his face

A conspicuous absence were wrinkles on forehead

Next day, the king threw away

All his silk and taffeta

Put on a single piece of coarse cloth

And submitted to Buddha

As a monk and disciple

He walked on and on

Even without any shoe or sandal

Ate only one frugal meal

And slept on dusty doormat

He spoke a little and smiled a lot

He was in search of happiness

With fervid fingers

Groping into his head and heart

He had a wide, big, net

But happiness like water,

Eluded through, yet

He became weird rather, eccentric

Always very active, doing, nothing

His adventures on happiness

Were brought forth to Buddha

“ Do you know playing drums

Oh, my new disciple” Buddha asked

“ " No, I don’t” the king disciple replied

“Do you play flute”

“No, I don’t

“Do you know playing veena, or

Any stringed instruments”

“Oh, yes, I was an adept, once upon a time"

A veena was brought forth and

Left on the lap of the disciple

“Play on the veena…”

“I can’t play music

I can't even make a noise

Unless the strings

Are pegged on both ends "

The disciples fixed the strings well on both ends

“Now, please tighten the strings”

He did

“Tighten them, more, more, and more…”

The strings became very taut

When he plucked, the strings

Blurted out into pieces

“So, is life my son” the master said

“You cannot indulge

Head over heals

Nor can you give up in toto

Keep the strings

Tight in right measures

Tied on two ends”

“Ah, yes, I understand the

Music of life, my master……”

The disciple was about to leave

“Please, wait a while …………

You played only veena

Not flute, nor the drums

Likewise you must find your instruments

To make music of life”.

A miracle Of all miracles

It was a time when

Swords spoke words

Blood flowed more on soil than in veins;

When people woke up

To the clash of spears

Then to the chirps of birds

He came down, Jesus, like

A silver white moist cloud

Settling gently upon arid deserts

“Eye for an eye makes both eyeless

Tooth for a tooth makes both toothless

Do you want fill this arid desert

With blinds and babblers?

Mortified mortals?

“Love thy enemies

Turn the right cheek

To those who spite the left cheek

Forgive the insults of your brother

Who trespasses on you

Forgive and forget"

He spoke in gentle mercy

The voice was soft

Like the petals falling on the ground

To became humus in a hungry soil.

The crowd listened to him

In rapt attention

Someone blurted out

"I have a brother

Who boils with envy

Though my father gave us half and half

Envy has flared as hate

And he torches me, tortures me

Over and over again

What shall I do……….".

“Forgive him, forgive him, seven times

Fill him with love so that

The flame of hatred gets quenched

By the torrential rain of love”

At another time

At another mount

When Jesus spoke in parables

A voice came renting the cloud of heads

“How many time should I

Forgive my brother

I forgave him seven times

Yet he is unrepentant

And goes in romping delight of

Hurting me over and over again”

“Did I say seven times…….

It is my mistake

Forgive your brother

Seventy times seven.”

The words were clear and firm

Like breeze from the heaven

On yet another occasion

There was a large crowd of fellowmen

Close at sea

Another pack of fellowmen were coming in a boat

But the sea was too turbulent

The boat was being tossed up

As if a mountain was jumping beneath

Jesus said

“Fie on you, keep quite

Peace be upon you and

All others who have

Gathered around here to hear

Words of peace……..”

The sea subsided

Became quiet like a whimpering

Child who sleeps, nestling to the bosom

After a pat on the check

“Here is my brother, my lord

Who has been

Repatriated from the domain of devil

To the land of the Lord

I did not forgive him beyond ten times

But he has become

A man of peace and sense

We came seeking your blessings

And lo, we witnessed a great miracle at your hands...”

Jesus smiled

“I have quelled the whimpering of wind

A faceless mindless thing

But you have quelled the rumbling of a man

A living, sensitive seething volcano…

You have converted the lava of hatred

Into a fountain of love

Is it not that what you

Have done is a greater miracle………..”

A wave of nod went over the crowd

Hearts swelled and heaved

Tears gushed forth like hot fountain.

A Hasteless Hour

Alone and aloof

Caught in the cobweb of circumstances

I sat in the backyard

Time tickled, passed through, thin hands

It ran sixty hop steps and jumps,

To push a thick long hand

Through a lazy, hazy, heavy step

The door heaved a little

Chair sighed in despair

Drops from the tap

Spoke in hushed murmurs

To the sink below.

The cockroach picked a piece of crumb

But flirted by a mate

Ran after it for a greater hunger

The spider fell down from the top

But in a super human feat

Rolled up and up

In single, slender, strand of fiber

It stood, frozen

Buy the creak of a door

All senses alert, acute

Then, rolled up to the top

The tiny dot of a sparrow

With swift ripple of jumps

Picked a dry pod of bean

Looked left and right, then

Flew like a flit from a bow

There was a scent in the wind

A murmur in the breeze

All enveloping warmth in the air

A fine taste in this haste less hour,

Half and Half

In the beginning

There was nothing Nothing happened, for nothing was It was a total emptiness, a perfect vacuum.

Then God came up In the empty Space All of a sudden, all by itself, Itself

For eons, It was alone All alone, doing nothing Nothing, nothing, nothing at all.

Then It created matter, But those creations Were lying unmoved, Utterly inactive

This went on, on and on For a few million years

Then It created energy Inside and outside Then all things, all the matter Exploded with a “Big Bang” With million lightning’s And thunderous sounds With millions and billions of New forms and shapes of matters. From matter came, Fishes and birds Lions and tigers.

These different forms of lives Knew how to stand and cope With the vagaries of external environment

They only knew how to eat Procreate, survive and also Form better species or combinations

God was NOT satisfied It created a woman, A life far better than all the rest, A quantum jump in the creation

This being has a certain level of thinking, conscious, decision making, capabilities, well beyond the inherent, inherited traits.

This woman could venture out into the world; learnt to survive the onslaughts of atmosphere; She could appreciate and admire fishes and foul ; Yet , she was always under the constant shadow of fear, morbid fright. She was on the toes to run back to the folds of God.

She always came back, totally submitting to God , often grumbling and mumbling.

"Why did you make me here; Did you create me to taste the despair of life ...". : She was always complaining

God was NOT satisfied He created a man. He was hefty and intelligent. He was able to run around, rule roost in his domain. He was able to bring all other living beings under his control. He was always grateful to God, for he and all around him were created by God. Man was able to admire the beauty of flowers and also the intricacies of his eye

He prayed and glorified God in thankful submission.

He was not able to go beyond a certain level, for he was always afraid that God would doubt his loyalty and render punishment. The shadow of God kept hovering around his head and he used to chant his name in every move, in reverential awe.

God was Not satisfied.

God created a man and woman together. They went out into the world happily gamboling and vaulting. What one learnt, experimented, experienced was communicated to other. They complemented each other; one stood on the shoulder of the other. There was dramatic expansion of knowledge, experience, wisdom, and realization. Mankind spread out occupying different landscapes. The whole pack of mankind formed sub groups and subsets, lived together, and also prayed together, their own God, created in their own image, taste or understanding.

Years rolled on and on.

When the subsets of mankind became egoistic, egotistic, the jingoist ideologies clashed ; idols clashed and eventually the adherents of idols and ideologies clashed.

Flood of blood flowed to establish God was one or two, or ten ; Man, Woman or It.

When they prayed in different niches, in different attire, God chided them.

“I am much pleased by your prayer and fervor. You are excellent children of mine, thankful, dutiful ; But why do you want more ? Have you not get enough?

“ We are the select few, chosen few, we Do not think of anyone, or anything But of you, the unique and the only God… After our death, we want paradise, the Seventh heaven where milk and Honey flow like river…

“Do you hunger after honey even after Death…” god interrupted

“We want heaven for us and only for us Hell fire for all others”

“Why this thirst, blood thirst, even after death…” God felt sick….

There was another group in another place.

“No, no, We are different set ; We wish not to be born again, er, eh, as animals or snakes or men or women..... We want our soul mingle with you, with the Universal, Eternal soul .... ?

“What? ............ What is a soul .........?” “There is nothing like soul ; there is only a life force ;\ a man is an intelligent, self-conscious life, couched in an animal like-body. When dead, a poet is dead as much as a parrot The difference between a fish and poet Is not in or after death; but only in life.

A man has far superior knowledge And wisdom, only and only When alive.

Whether you pray or not, whether you are sacred or silly, every part of you will be returned to the universal repository, to make another stone or bone to make another man or another monkey!”

The end of life is death The end of death also a death.

God was far from satisfied.

There was another small segment of mankind. They prayed and venerated God, admiring in awe the manifold of the magnanimous structure of the universe. They formed the rule of life, all from the intricacies of every day life, more like rules of a chess or soccer or car traffic. Their lives were governed by rules of men and women, for men and women by men and women.

Hardly could they be found in any niche, or temple…..

"What are you doing all the time ........ You, set of reprobates, arrogant knaves, you have forgotten me. How dare are you. I will show you miracles to bring you back into submission ?" God one day caught them unaware. " Miracles ... ? This human body is a miracle. This life in human body is a great miracle. The human life in the world is the greatest miracle. Do not dazzle us with pranks." This set of mankind said " We are all bent upon experimenting, exploring new domains of knowledge, wisdom. We keep expanding the horizon of knowledge. Nay, we keep creating new body of knowledge .."

"What .. You create ... " God was startled

"Yes, my Lord, you have created this world. the matter and energy. "But we create new frontier of knowledge and these lead us to still newer domains of knowledge. This is an ever rising, expanding spiral .... " God was listening.

"It is you who created matter and energy; matter remains as matter; energy remains as energy; or matter becomes energy or energy becomes matter; the sum total is a constant. It never increases. It is you who created life; me and monkey. We are all mortal. True. But there is a big difference between me and a monkey. You created man from the humus ; When man dies, he falls like leaves to enrich the soil ; to make a better humus.

When I die, the atoms and molecule of my body returns back to the repository to make a stone or a bone ; But my knowledge, my wisdom, my revelation of the intricacies of the laws of this world will be passed to another mortal, then with his revelation to another mortal

We create immortal, ever increasing knowledge ... " There was a pause. God was listening, with rapt attention. "Without you we are non existent True, True, True .... But without we, you are A reed without wind. A sea sans waves.

You made the matter and energy We make the knowledge and wisdom What you made is a constant What we make is constantly increasing.

You and we, half and half You first, we second ". God was pleased and totally satisfied. The purpose of creation was revealed upon Him, by him. There was blissful smile on both sides.

A Game of Cards

We sat down for a game of cards

God and I

He made the first move,

I, the second

He threw sands and stones

I made than into building and bridges

He then released a pack of wolves and elephants

I tamed them to stand and serve

He sent rain and thunder

I stored them as water in huge dams

He whipped his lashes of lightning

I caught the tail and squeezed as current

Then all of a sudden

He drew a dark, black card

Hidden up in his sleeve

And threw down in utter desperation

………………………………..

I fell down flat.

Connoisseur

I am a Connoisseur

Of food varieties

Like a seasoned wine taster of the West

Or a local tea- taster of the East

I can smell and count

The days of my old foods

The bitter-sore- acrid taste of the soup

The esoteric tinge on the ridges of the tongue

From the southern ‘Sambar’

And rubbery northern ‘roti’

Also I know

How each would rebel inside

Rumble and grumble

But eventually subside with a murmur.

-----------------------------

Live you long ye, Man

Fuming and frothing fire and brimstone

* Man went to God

"Why didst thou give me a life

A pittance, thirty and ten?

Why snap the string

In the pitch, while

High and trilling ..."

God smiled, tongue in cheek

“Oh. lemme see what can I do for you...”

A donkey came in

With a trail of wail.

"Why did you my lord, give me

A life of forty long?

To carry tones of load on tiny limbs?

Stalking, baulking and braying?

Take half of mine!"

God smiled, tongue in cheek

“Oh. lemme see what can I do for you..."

A dog came in

Sullen and sulking

"Why didst, my lord, give me a life

Ten and thirty? To hoot and howl

And bark in the dark?

To run hither and thither lolling out the tongue?

Take, pray, half of mine!”

God smiled, bemused

“Oh, I am sorry...”

A monkey sprang

Like a flit, from a branch

“Why did you...”

It made a somersault,

“Give me a life

A tortuous forty....”

A branch was going into twigs and splinters

“Even my nap gets hundred times snapped

Take half of mine....”

“ "Oh, man, here is what you wanted

God called the man

and patted on his head

“Take half of monkey

Half of donkey

Another half of dogs’ life

To stretch your bow

Beyond thirty and ten”

---------------------------------------------------------------

* put ‘woman’ here, if you, so wish?

Wings

Man looked at God squarely

With eyes, blazes of fire

“Your gave me the trunk of a mule

Hands of a gorilla

Legs of hound

And of course a mind

An odd mix of angel and devil

We can even swim like a dolphin

Why didn’t you give us wings?”

God said with a twinkle in eyes

“They will sprout, on your sides,

All in a jiffy, in picoseconds

When you fall in love, with a right girl,

Not as one pair, but as two”

A Kuil’s Melody

It was a lonely walk

With the rustle of my steps

Trailing every turn

The eventide was washing

The warmth of the day

The wind whimpering in the bushes

The little birds, minahs and swallows

Hopping and jumping, crisscross

From trees to the thickets

Then I heard the melodies

“Cookoo, Cukoo, Cukoo...”

From the depth of the heart and soul

Where from doth it come?

Where to doth it go?

Who had squeezed the heart out?

I waited and waited

For the bird to come out

For a praise, or a prize

“Cukoo, Cukoo, Cukoo...?

A long, deep, longing-crystallized melody

Going into, groping into your heart

“Pray, do come out,

I yearn to see the beauteous body

That shrines the sweetest melody....”

“Some are to be heard

not seen.....”

Taken aback, got all the more intrigued

“Pray, tell me, from the depth of your dwelling

Your voice is a melody

So sweet, so strong but so deep...”

“Some of the sweetest melodies and songs

Come from the deepest sorrow”

There was a pause

I waited and waited.

“I keep looking for my father and mother...

In every niche, nook and crevices.

Behind the bower, beneath the bush

For they left me fend for myself

In an alien world

The first ray of light

The first whiff of breeze

The first gulp of food

Came condescended, as a pittance

Not out of love, but of pity

Not out of right, but in slight

I grew up in the

Hustle and bustle of crow chicks

Hushing my voice, gulping my melody.

Lest I could be singled out

Picked, pecked and beaten out

“I ring out my soulful sorrow

In full hearted melody

In the specter of a browbeating crows

In search my sisters and brothers”

----------------------------------------------------------

* A kuil is the Indian cuckoo . The mother is said to lay

its eggs in the nest of crow as the kuil doe not

have a nest of its own

It is a poem inspired by conversation

with Dr.M.Rajendran, who could ‘share

and spare time’ for me

What don’t we have as yet....?

He was hooked up through his scope

To the distant dot in the dark sky

A thread to string the beads

In his beauteous equation

At the moment of ecstasy

The Divine hand touched him

And brought him back to the earth

“Oh, man, I, your creator,

The one who everybody keeps seeking,

Have come down to you

For a Little Chat...”

Was it can apparition or dream?

The scientist took time to recover

“Well, then” he said with a shrug

“Why me you could have

Chosen a temple and the like.

Or, the salons of seers or agnostics

To settle the dispute perennial

“Any way, thanks for coming

I have few things to sort out...”

The Creator was shocked and shaken

“I understand now why you

Fellows never care a temple

Your arrogance and audacity...”

The Scientist waved a gray hand

He was cut short

“It is odd that you mumble and grumble

Like mortals, like us....

“Is it not true that

I speak to you

A language known to you and me

Only two of us

Do you feel the touch of me

On the tendrils of your hairs...?

The Divine was wriggling

“Well, er..., listen,

I now realize, perhaps, belatedly,

That I have endowed you with

Senses supreme and sharp

You, the fellows, have out- grown

And your heads over grown

I wish to take back at least

One sense, one faculty from you.

The scientist was rattled

Chillness went threading up his spine.

“Is it fair on your part...?"

The voice was meek and plaintiff

“Yes, it is right on my part

That you can never question.

One concession, I can offer, through

As you have been the apples of my eye

Choose yourself.

Remit any of your faculties

This is the best offer...”

The man was trembling

Submerged in self pity and pathos,

But he came back to the surface

Buoyant, like a ball, from a wall.

Composed himself and cast a gauntlet

“My lord, kindness is enshrined in you

But what can I submit, unto you

I don’t know

But I have a small proposition

Take away anything you want

But grant, me instead.

A sense that I don’t have as yet.”

The Creator stood frozen

Mulled over many times

Time tickled on and on

And then He melted in thin air.

The scientist, with a wry smile

Turned his scope to the sky.

(Based on a story by Jayakannthan)

Chandelier in the Jungle

Who stole the chandelier of the king

And planted in the jungle?

Who netted the stars of the sky

To scatter on the bush?

Who are these children

With backpacks of bright books?

Who are these bevies of girls

Who chatter in light giggles?

Who taught them?

Moments of laughter

Moments of gloom

Moments of death

Moments of birth

Who are these tourists

Window shopping in the dead of night?

Who are these miners

With lanterns in the diamond caves?

Who brought them the silver feather

To glitter without sunlight?

Who dived deep in the sea

To plant pearls on thorns?

Who gave the magic

To the jasmine buds to roam and wander?

(A rhapsody on fireflies)

Under the shade of Allah

Through the quiet long stretches

That the street of Damascus reaches

The pounds of horses

The rattles of wheels

The grinds and squeaks of axles

Woke the people

From the cups of their post noon naps.

A child, the blissful dawn,

Turned askance from the muzzling bosom

Tiny pearls of milk flowed down.

The old haggard looked up

And peered through the beating sun

With a cupped hand atop the cavern

The little lass walking in

Rhymes and rhythms

To the laps on the pitcher

Turned around and her mouth went agape

The horse-driven cart

With a pack of fierce looking men

Reached the palace of Khattab

A tall monument of mound

Pitched and plastered in

Yellow grey sand

With stray soldiers scurrying around.

"Is it the palace of Caliph Khattab......?

The ruler of a vast empire

With one hand dipping in Nile

And another plucking a Kabul rose?!....

We are the emissaries of Emperor,

The Emperor of Persia

With twinkling diamonds

And giggling gifts in gold and silver

With our respects and regards

Scented in Indian spices

"Welcome, welcome home, brothers.....

We feel honored

But our Caliph is not home

Right at this moment

For he pays his tribute

To his Master.....

In the Mosque yonder

In obeisance and wonders"

The emissaries and the caravan

Rolled in soft, subdued silence

The people were withdrawing

in bliss and peace

For they have, in the Mosque,

Remitted remorse and repentance.

There was none but a man

Yonder under the tree

In simple sash, resting and in reverie

Lean and lanky

With a bush of brows

Like rooftops on the cavern of eyes

Withdrawn, yet glimmering

"We have come to see the

Caliph Khattab, the ruler of Umma.

Take us to him

We are the Emissaries of

Emperor of Persia.

The land of Plenty and beauty.....”

"Welcome home brothers

Welcome home.

We are honored

I accept all in humbleness.....”

"But, it is all for Caliph....

"It is I, the humble

Servant of Allah....”

The emissaries in regal splendor

Were struck with wonder

"It is you, you

The great Caliph Khattab

All alone, under the shade of a tree.

"No, under the shade of Allah....”

"Are you not afraid.....?

Yes, I am, afraid

"Afraid of Allah,

None but Allah"

" " Don't you have soldiers?

And sword-rattling guards.

“You don't need any, ever,

If only you are just and kind...."

Adieu

Adieu to the dews of the dawn

And tendrils of the butterfly

To the strings of the banyans

And streaks on the teak

Adieu to the clasped hands of the ceiling

And cob webs beneath the table

To the paper smell of the study

and the flicker of the street lamp

Adieu to the whisper of the curtain

and, oh I am sorry,

The whimper of the water tap.

I may not see you again

Not any of you,

Nor is there any need, not at all

I slide out of the door

Remembering you all in silence and smile

May be you too!

Immunization

I got immunized

Against jaundice at three

Typhoid at Fifteen

Against malaria at seventeen

The needle pierced

The fire scorched and burnt

All virus and bacteria

The fire,

The gut fire

The fire in my guts......

The flames of empty stomach.....

I Have Things to Do

I got really fed up, sick and angry,

And decided to go up and inquire.

Go up means, really up!

I went through the dark clouds, passed across

the white shoals

Smiled at the blue dome and felt frightened

by the immense darkness.

Occasionally the angles and satellites were

whirring past me.

They hardly cared for a weary nondescript

like me.

The I cried SOS on the radio telecomm .!

Pat came a reply.

"What the hell do you want to do?."

"I want to go to heaven."

“What for?"

"Want to talk to the god?

"Which god?"

"Are there too many?"

"Yes, quite a few. Who do you want to meet?"

It is surprise. I was not sure enough.

"Well, yes, let me start with the God of Creation"*.

"Well, take a right turn, go two light years and

then, vertically, in the Z axis, for three years/

Do you want me to fix an appointment for you...

-------------------------------------------------------------" According to Hindu mythology, there are three gods;

Brahma - God of Creation, Shiva of Destruction, Vishnu

of Protection.

"Oh, yes, if you can. That is quite nice of you.

By the way, where are you and who are...

There was click and the line went

I traveled as per instruction and reached the

Hall of the God of Creation.

The secretary looked up and smiled. She had a head phone

And two of her hands were pushing and pulling wires

in the tele command slots. Another pair of hands were

keying in some data in the computer.

Yet, she blossomed a smile on seeing me and nodded her

head asking me to be seated.

Behind the big glass-paneled room was the God of

Creation. He was busy touching flowers, and stroking

rabbits.

"You see, this is the spring season . He has to create many

Flowers and birds, Please do wait".

I waited, seated on a cozy sofa.

After sometime, I stood up. He was really too busy. His eyes

got me once and he smiled sheepishly.

"Can I see the God of Destruction now? I can meet your

boss on my way home. He seems quite busy."

The secretary pushed out a piece of paper in which the

direction has been scribbled.

"Go ahead; I shall have the appointment fixed for you!"

I left for the Hall of the God of Destruction. I had not

gone far, but I could hear the din even at a distance.

The Scene was not much different. Here too, the secretary

was as busy as the God of Creation and vice versa

I waited and waited. There was no time for the God of

Destruction, even to acknowledge my presence. He just

had a quick look and even before a smile could light up

his face he was pulled back to his work. He was dancing

here and there and I decided to see the God of Protection,

the Savior of the universe.

I came out and got the directions to his abode through

telecommunication.

It ran a long way. By the time I reached my destination, I

was tired and angry, up to my neck. And the God of

Protection was reclining cozily on a gossamer divan.

He was asleep, half or full, I could not make out. He was

c certainly having a nice time, with gentle breeze and

soft music pervading the atmosphere. His wife was sitting

close to is feet, giving gentle massage.

He appeared not to have felt my presence

I cleared my throat.

He opened his eyes, from his blissful reverie.

"Hi, how are you?"

I stood still, my eyes scorching him. Then, only

then, he woke up and came towards me for a

handshake.

"What brings you here, gentleman?

What can I do for you?"

I could not open my mouth. My head was

reeling in anger.

I blurted out.

"What is going on here? You seem not to bother about us

at all. Just look around. The world is going to dogs! There

is so much misery and chaos. People suffer and decay.

Millions and millions of people beseech you, cry for you

help with all assortment of offerings. But you seem to

care for none. You seem to be happily dozing off along,

when your peers, the God of Creation, and the

God of Destruction are hectic with work. What the hell

do you do, as the God of Protection?

He stood unruffled.

"You are ranting and raving.... Well, well. They don't

reflect well on you. There was a pause.

"Anyway, when things have come to this state,

I am bound to reply". He continued

"You have hands, broad shoulders and above all a neat head.

Why don't you take care of yourself .Have you ever seen

grown up children ever bothering their

parents.

Is it not a shame on you to cry

and pray for every little odds?

He was rather sad, certainly not angry.

"By the way, who asked you to pray and beseech

the Gods! We have better things to do, than to attend to

your beck and call! Have you ever seen a bird or

flower praying and doing penance

for us?.

They have the wisdom to try their best

and accept the rest!"\

He ambled back to the divan, like an ice flake drifting and

settling on a bouquet.

"Wow,! Are you going to sleep again?

"No, I am going to work"

"What!"

"Yes, I was planning and designing the next and better

world, and you interrupted me!....

He continued

´ ” You see, we do have turn duties like some of you folks...

May I resume my work....?

I have things to do"

On a fiery flight

"Let us go

Let us go...."

The younger brother was in delight

In the carrion lying beneath

The tree was tall and hefty

With branches, bereaved of leaves

It was groping into the sky

With twisted hands and knuckled fists

The air bumped on its humps

And hooted like an owl in growing pain

"Where do you want to go?"

The younger brother asked in askance

The words came out bitten and broken

Soaked in juice of reeking blood

The elder brother Sambathi*

Had falcon eyes, for he was really a falcon

Yet filled with distant dreams

"Let us go, Thambi**

Let us go on a fiery flight....."

"Well, where do you want to go...."

Jadayu's voice was choked and hesitant

It was a drawl like a distant roar of thunder

"Spit out that you stupid fool

How many days do you want to

Live to eat or eat to live

Fornicate and procreate

Running in the same cycle

Millions before, millions after

Trailing and wailing,

Sometimes winning sometimes whining

Endless cycle of enough’s....

"Yea, that is it, life is like that!...."

"Let us go

Let us go on a fiery flight...

To cleave through the clouds

And twiddle the big black whales above

We go still above

To fly aloft still

unweighted, unwafted, in emptiness.

We could go even above

To see the lightless

Black domain below the bright sun....

We could drink deep

The nectar on that silver plate'......

"Can we make it Anna***

Can we do that?

Is it not that the sky is too high"....

There was a pause, both birds

Became silent, earn searching

The inner niches of theirs and the others

" We will, if we can...."

"No, we can if we will

We can, if we drop the

Dead load of lead in our head....

We can if only we break the barrier

That hedges and keeps our mind set and tight

Liberate yourself, liberate your mind

Cleave through the clutter of cobwebs

The red sea and blue sky

Led the way to the liberators"

Both decided to go up skyward

Try their reach and range

“We must prepare ourselves

We must do penance

Lest the efforts fritter even in best

We must learn to give up meat

Eat nuts and fruits

Quench the fire of stomach

With the bounty of water

We must train to starve

Cease the dreams that seizes the sleeps

We must train for a long

Nonstop flight from tree top to hill top....."

They did

Their friends and relatives

Did their best to rile and ridicule

"Each is a half crack

Both together, full fools...."

But the arrows of words

Hot from the quiver of dark embers

Got blunt at the targets

They rent through the torrents of water fall

Glided through the twisted silver sash

Counted the million of rainbows

Picked and pecked the pearls of water

There was the scent of the soil

Rubbed and rubbed by watery hands of endless toil

They went upwards

They went through the cotton clouds

Sucked the nectar of white curd

Walked upon the stairs of rainbows

Stacked in the cloudy hills.

"There is certainly more delight in the flight

If not in destination, Anna"

They went upwards

The clouds have become

Tiny dots on white mosaic

They hit the bits and flakes of

Castaway frills of the lonely princes

They went up still

It was a flight in stillness, in emptiness

Under the dark dome sky

Unruffled, unweighted, unbuffered

They relished the tingling taste of death alive

They went still further.

"Enough Anna, enough

We have reached the fringe

Blue and white sky lie far below

We have reached our goal.....”

"No, Thambi, goal that was reached

Was not a goal at all....

It should hover above the head

Within sight, very close

But a little above reach

Raising as you raise.....

They went up

The white silver of sun blazed aglow

They have touched the tail, almost

"Anna, we have almost touched the

finger of brilliance

Pray, do not go above come

down and stay under my shadow....."

Jadayu cried

Sambathi was all adrenalin

"It is a flimsy bubble, this life

That could shatter by a distant sneeze

Should my thambi get burnt before me....

Girding up all the might and mien

With the passion and love

Flooding through the veins.

Sambathi out ran, out jumped, out flew his brother

He touched the rim of the silver plate

His wings got scorched

The flesh and blood got

Turned into ashes and soot

"Anna, Anna ...”

Jadayu cried and cried and fell down

"Anna.... Anna...."

The echoes’ went down through

The dark dome, blue sky and white clouds

-------------------------------------------------------------- Note:

Sambathi and Jadayu are mythological bird

brothers of Ramayana. They tried to scale the height of sky and reach the sun!

Anna = Elder brother, here Sambathi

Thambi = Younger brother, here Jadayu

masila

Dr V Masilamani is an odd combination of physicist + poet + and philosopher