Celesté

It was a cool summer night when I’d gone out for a walk and I was – as usual, ‘jobless’. I was just pondering about how useless my life was when I saw her in the sky. I’m not sure as to what made her notice her, amidst the array of all the bright twinkling stars that surrounded her, but I was for a second amused – curious to find out the reason for her uniqueness. For there she lay creating an intricate pattern amidst her kind. The thing that struck me about her was the fact that she shone with a constant dull glow and did not twinkle like the other stars around her and before I knew it I’d begun talking to her. She was a little shy at first and hardly used to talk at all and it was quite some time later that she began to warm up to me and felt free to talk. She said that she was lost and alone, ‘unwanted’, she claimed herself to be…I was amused at first, unsure of what she expected of me. I was no philosopher, I was no guide. I didn’t even have my own life in control. But something about her drove me on – urging me to at least try. We spent months together talking, about everything around the skies – from the sun to the galaxies and all the other planets around. She kept asking me things that sometimes left me at a loss…for after all I was only human and SHE was the star , whether she saw it or not. But I didn’t want to let her down, I didn’t want to give up, thus I made myself try harder to answer her and search deeper within myself for ideas. With each new meeting out bond grew stronger, helping me grow focused and her glow brighter. We hardly noticed time fly by and soon we were woven into our own busy lives. Years later – I look up at the sky I see a star shining brighter than all the rest that filled up the expanse above smiling down at me. I smiled – for I had helped her see herself and she had given me purpose. Now I walk about looking above – searching for another little dull star… …

Zeal of life

I was born in a land eons ago – long before you came, (4:28)
A time when life had just begun, first paces of its game
Winds then sang the tunes of love, life devoid of hate,
Even I – the spirit of blessed life, couldn’t control fate…

Seasons changed, life moved on spurring vibrant change,
Animals came to rule the lands, twas’ life’s crude exchange
Green leaves and vibrant petals thus moved aside in peace,
Paving a path for the stronger race to rule the lands on lease…

I witnessed the new forms of life, pondering with a frown,
Unsure of this new emotion, the hunger of the new form
The animals spread out in ease, crushing the world I knew,
With each blow that they landed, I was left bruised anew

The water soon began to dry; the winds began to ease,
Did so arise the thought–“Weaker forms should cease”
Animals divided themselves and species came to be,
A glimpse of coming horror, the world didn’t then see

Change – the base of growth, change the world was made,
For love began to weaken and sweet songs began to fade
In such times did new creatures, two legged came to be,
New powers inside them, sparking – hope to set pain free

Spread faster than the wind, might greater than I’d seen,
Powers extraordinaire, with thought blessed they’d been
Like a storm came he, for such cunning thoughts had he,
Before life could react, supreme ruler he’d claimed to be

Witnessing the carnage of man, pain did surge through me,
With his greed and sorrow, he unleashed the world with hate
Then turn did he to his own kind, no sign of greed’s abate,
He satisfied his hunger, feeding from each spare plate

Divide did he to pieces, every last ounce he’d with a knife
He believed he owned it all and shed blood to conquer life
In his frenzy to rule – did he opportune the evil of war,
And while he bled his brothers, did I bleed with him afar

And now I stand a cripple, drenched in the blood of life,
At the weakness I wonder – when I would cease to be…(9:00 PM)

Manas R Moothedath
7th Jan 2007

Sparkle

I smile – setting my face aglow,(3:54 AM)
Still smiling, I think back of times
When life wasn’t singing a tune
When smiles never reach the eyes,

I smile wider as I think of you,
Your enthusiasm – joy for life,
Most of all – my favorite part,
Your amazing, disarming smile,

I look around searching for you,
And in the midst of crowd I find
Something amiss – I couldn’t see
You – for me, you were your smile

I look around, for that special light,
That lit up your face – essence of life
I wonder where it could have gone,
Knew – can’t hide true beauty long

And then I found you hidden behind,
A face that seemed to be hardly yours
For what I got to see – what I witnessed
Was but a shadow of brightness bygone

I know not what could be pricking your heart,
That casts such a shadow across iridescent light,
Pardon me, But you see selfish am I – utterly so
I shall not let you deprive me of pure joys of life,

I know not your dreams and know not your pain,
In fact I couldn’t even say that I know what you be…
But one thing I do know and that I declare to thee
I’m in love with your smile – which you can see,

For shining off my face, my smile bright and true,
Is but a reflection of what you hold within you (4:23 AM)

11 January 2007
Void Thought

Gone in 60 minutes ;)

One fine morning I wake up and find, (8:00 AM)
An email from god that said “Ahem”
Surprised, I open it up to then find,
4 words inside, “One hour to live”

One hour!? #$%#%WHAT??$%^&(!
Oh my god! Oh god! Oh my! Went I,
What do I do? Aaargh, I was lost,
A few minutes spent cursing my fate,

I remembered that my clock was ticking away,
I set an alarm on my watch and sat to think,
Taking a deep breath, I tried to keep calm
The calmer I seemed, the more confused I got,

Trying a different approach, I ran between rooms,
Thinking of all the things that I wanted to do,
For never had I thought that I would be found,
Trying to figure the last wishes before death,

Should I call up my friends, I asked myself.
No! Thought I, for it was too late for that
Should I read one last book, I pondered,
Discarded the idea – had no books so short,

Then my head was hoarded with what to do,
By now I had started to feel, slightly mad,
A beep on my watch did thence interrupt,
Alarming me, for I’d lost half of my time

Phew! Damn! I told myself – exhausted
Man! Waiting for death seemed so tough,
That’s when I had an amazing brainwave,
There in my eyes shone the perfect release,

Lying on my glass tea-table beside,
Was a pizza brochure – idea sparked!
I’d spend last few moments of my life,
Eating a pizza – Life’s greatest delight,

I then put through my call frantically,
Blurting, I wanted the best that they had,
Topped by each delicious topping they had
Layered by all of their choicest of cheese

I sat down on a chair, pretence of calm
Drumming my fingers, waiting for food,
The funniest thing – the thought of pizza
Shut out the fear inside of oncoming doom

I wondered for a second as to how it’d end
Would it be a quake? Tsunami? A Storm?
My mind drifted back to my last treat
Mm.., I could smell the cheese in the crust

Then I broke out of my reverie, stared at the clock,
Just a few minutes to spare, my food wasn’t there
My mind exploded in fury towards the pizza guy,
I decided – NO WAY” was I paying this guy,

That was when the bell rang breaking the thought,
In eager anticipation, I then ran towards my door
But alas, I saw not the step, last thing that I saw
Was the edge of my table right in front of my eyes!

As my consciousness then slowly faded away
I half laughed as I realized a pizza killed me!(9:30 AM)

4th Jan 2007
Void Thought

Paradise – Where?

(6:28 PM)I was not a child – nor could I be, for every second since I’d discovered myself I’ve felt lost in time. I lived in a world spun off my dreams and in those hidden layers, truth I did find. I guess a child they could call at the age when I did, start hearing the voices that kept me aroused. For each night as blue clouds drank in grey, and then as the sky shed all its brightness away, I stared at the skies, far past what eyes could see and there amidst the stars had I woven my secret place to be. For now I was trapped in this world where I be, for none but the voices that spoke could see, how there could be a land beyond human sight. One day I realized that a path I should find, for from the edge of this world, a way there shall be. And thence shall I rise, above and move on – encompass the light, and ‘one’ with life shall I be one. I spent countless hours searching in vain, until shades of black and grey absorbed my sight. As I lay exhausted on the gravel path that lay ahead, I saw a bright light – mauve rising above. In a flash it rose to the stars up above and then broke into specks of vibrant delight. I stared up above – enlightened inside, for somehow I knew, that now I could find the path that shall take me my way. But the years went on and so did I – slowly numbed by the silence around. The voices remained urging me on, not letting me sleep, not letting hope die. My visions grew more complex almost taunting me now, sneering at my failure to find my own path to my land. Finally I could take it no more, exhausted and defeated I realized I’d tried too hard and had still lost my way. I stared up looking at the stars at night, trying to convince myself that it was not an illusion and not some mean game of my mind. My quest had taken me far – beyond all seven seas and thence finally did I return to the start. But, shocked was I to find my gravel path was not be found. The place from where I’d begun was lost – far from gravel, I could see not soil at all. Nor could I find the dust in the air and the barren lands adorned by stones. The sharp stones had given way to life’s soft touches in kind. Green lush lands had swallowed the path, leaving no gap for even doubt to get past. As I stared across the green fields around, I stood silent for a second wondering in awe as to whose land I had come to.., Then, I saw her – her hair blowing out wild, peering at me from behind her black curtain with a shy smile and moist eyes. I stood for a second amazed to witness the person who’d painted this world from scratch, given life to my powerless dreams. I smiled back glad to find that in the quest of truth I wasn’t alone and lay down on the grass. Slowly the voices that had kept me awake – faded away and I fell asleep finally – as I drifted away I realized that it would end where it all began and it was never too later to reach the end – for here Paradise I’d found at last (7 PM)

4th Jan 2006
Manas R Moothedath