Wednesday 2 January 2013

Pirouette





Another year comes and pirouettes
twirls once, twice, and then leaves the stage
without making time for elaborate
recaps, without the clichéd, set
speeches that fall grandly off the page;

 

the last of the mornings draws to a close
behind an amorphous mist of rooftops
behind the naked trees, and winter shows
of merry red blooms, and jingling radios
and pushy red signs in the malls and shops;

 

somewhere the leaf-drop of terrible news;
the scream of a shell fossilised into stone.
Soft mollusc insides of lives torn, the livid bruise
of blood in stinging brine, the wounded queues,
the bubbles of pain, each cruising alone.

 

But the vicious trickle of viscous black despair
still gets stoppered by the crumbly cork
of shaky hope, and love pricks it everywhere
and breaks the quick-formed crust over its layer.
The new year comes in with its turns and torque.

12 comments:

  1. Nice
    alternating of pleasure, pain, happiness, sadness, hope, despair, joy, horror .......
    So goes each year. No need to focus on one more than the other. No need to not enjoy because horror is in the background.
    "it turns and torques"

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    1. Yes, always keep the focus soft...works for me! :) Thanks and happy new year

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  2. Excellent last stanza... Yes, despite the 'black despair' there is a way that 'shaky hope' still rises. Beautifully expressed!

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    1. Thank you for the feedback...shaky hope is what keeps it all stuck together somehow :)

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  3. thank goodness for shaky hope you know...without it what do we have really? love the dance of the year int he first part, that really hooked me...my wife was a ballerina for years as well...come on new year, i am ready for you...smiles.

    happy new year ma'am

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    1. Me too..completely ready to dance with the new year :) you are one lucky man to be able to dance with a ballerina! A very happy new year to you and yours!

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  4. I like the turn of the year here ~ Specially the turn of emotions and outlook from the third stanza to the fourth stanza of shaky hope ~

    Very well penned ~

    Happy New Year to you ~

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  5. i like the idea of years pirouetting on and off the stage...nice.. happy new year to you...we dance alongside..smiles

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  6. Very lyrical. took me into Simon & Garfunkel Land. You must connect with a musician.

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    1. Arrey, Prof saab yahan!! Suswagatam!! "Woh aaye humare ghar khuda ki kudrat hai, kabhi hum unko kabhi apne ghar ko dekhte hain" :) :) Great to see you here!

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