Sunday 19 July 2020

Blanking the Verse




All I see is a sparrow, and a dove
perched on the windowsill against the glass
and the sunfilm lets me get quite close up.
All I read is that the deaths have gone flat
even as the cases fizz and spiral
I don’t mean to disregard any pain –
yesterday I heard a friend of a friend
has passed, a colleague of a cousin lost
both her parents within weeks while away,
her mapped mother had slammed the borders shut
and so she wasn’t in on the last rites.
I’d heard in childhood even walls had ears
but now they’ve evolved into empty eyes
in which one screaming headline’s reflected
briefly followed by another, graver -
that chokes off the ability to scream.
Only the glass shows me a pair of birds
perched to avoid the worst of midday heat,
on the wall a death curve that has flatlined
somehow bends into the outline of hope
even though it’s probably transient
even though the numbers are enormous.
For  now I have the dove and the sparrow
and no guilt in choosing a narrow frame.
I have  for now much less than a blank wall
and to blot it out, I have this blank verse.













8 comments:

  1. Hari Om
    One can try, but to blot it out might be to blot oneself out, else it keeps seeping in... YAM xx

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    1. Blotting everything out right now sounds blissful! :)

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  2. Heartfelt hugs and oceans of caring are flowing your way dear friend.
    I turn to nature for ease and solace. And the sparrow and the dove give it generously asking/receiving nothing in return.

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    1. Thank you, EC and hugs back. Nature is what keeps me sane. Wish I had greater access - but then, the sky is everywhere - thankful!

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  3. thanks for this blank verse. We have hawks soaring these days over our neighborhood, and no doubt feasting on the goodies in the field next to our house. They are so graceful as they catch the thermals and fly higher. I like to think we can soar someday just like them. Until then - numbers and numbers numb.
    Take care - good thoughts for the week to you

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    1. The hawks sound beautiful! The numbers out of your area are way too concerning. Wishing you and yours safe and healthy.

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  4. A different kind of poem that I have recently read on this dampened world....it chooses the tiny boat amidst wise speculations flooding the space--like the sailing of the promises of life in the holy book...lovely read indeed...regards

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