Sunday 24 February 2019

News from Nowhere V




You know, news, like a bullet, ricochets
and reaches me with a lag when it’s spent;
I believe it’s really not that different
for you. For those who stay still at one place.
Some edge, angle’s lost due to the delays
though if I so choose, it can be real time -
know them at their freshest – blast, rape, war crime;
the leaf skeletons of petty prejudice
showcased, as though nothing was amiss.
But I avoid the WiFis in cafés.
Better by far, my love, out in the desert
where the dust is timeless, and the moon phase
the sole cycle eternal, nothing to raise
except small pegs and tents, no red alert. 



This concludes the series of experimental love sonnets I've been writing/posting this month to celebrate everyday loving as opposed to drama queen loving. Love is a tidal wave in the sea, sure, but it is also the ordinary water from the faucet.  I see the sea once or twice a week, dip my toes in sometimes, infrequently, but those faucets I use everyday. Couldn't do without them in fact. The sea is good to have, but I've lived inland too, without it.

I'm travelling this week, back in Kolkata again, so will catch up with you when I get back. Meanwhile, stay well.




13 comments:

  1. I prefer the faucet love, although I often long for the sea, especially since I am so far away now.
    Travel safe.

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    1. Thank you. I can take or leave the sea. Good to have but not essential. But can't imagine how hard life would be without the faucets!

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  3. I like this sonnet! I may have missed your previous posts due to my absence on blogger world. I will surely check out the previous sonnets. Wish you a very happy Sunday!
    Jui Positive Cookies

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  4. Hi Nila - wonderful words and I particularly like:

    'Better by far, my love, out in the desert
    where the dust is timeless, and the moon phase
    the sole cycle eternal ...'

    Travel safe and we'll see you when you are back and can get around ... cheers Hilary

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    1. You know Hilary, the desert - once you get to the remote reaches of it - makes you appreciate exactly why the saints and spiritual folks chose it often as a retreat.

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  5. Fresh water out of a faucet is very important!
    Safe travels.

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  6. Safe travels to you and hope all shall be well.
    Avoid the WiFis - let the news drift on the wind

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    1. I'll take the news bearing winds over the wifis anyday!

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  7. This poem kinda makes me wonder what it was like back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when despite slowly-moving technological advances, it took forever to hear about election results and anything else of importance that happened.

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    1. You don't have to go too far back, David. In the 70's news took three weeks to reach between my hometown and where I lived with my parents in West Africa. No telephone connection except between the capitals till late 70's. A telegram, used for really urgent news like births, deaths, emergencies etc, reached in 8-9 days. Life moved at a more laid back pace, people were patient because they didn't know how else to be. Not invariably a bad thing - speaking from the other end of the age of info overload.

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