In a series of poems I have tried to address the problems facing the world. The poems contain allusions from The Waste Land, Herman Hesse's novel Siddharta, Jim Morrison's An American Prayer and reflects upon the possibility of salvation ingrained in the Eastern philosophies and myths. Optimistic readers will find the poems full of life and possibility. But melancholy is never far from joy. After all, it is Charles Baudelaire who had said-- la melancholie toujours du sentiment du beau . Keats uttered more profoundly--In the very temple of delight/Veiled Melancholy has her sovran shrine. Do the poems manifest similar attitudes? Well, one has to read them before drawing any conclusions.
1.The Sadhus
Sadhus treading this land
believed
nirvāṇa is attainable
Rapid technological advances
shoved aside such loftier ideas
to antiquity
Has lead holy men
to fake as well.
Sadly Sadhus no more
live pious lives
They run naked, squatting
under media scrutiny
by the Ganges
They now preach lust
Like cell phone messages
Urging worship consumerism.
holding sway to a lost faith
evening tide gradually recede,
as Sadhus romp by the Ganges side.
2. Siddharta*
Herman Hesse in Siddharta preached
man must seek desire,
As well be abstemious
Out went his hero in the pleasure garden
of Kamala, queen of
Ravishment
Enchantment
Love
Poured forth holy lust
Dried soon
Like neglected rivers
But to be a
Buddha
Requires Soul
Enlightenment
Courage
Eye to see
suffering.
Down at your knees
you lost, vain men of war
Go to Buddha
Seek truth
Life
and learn to negate
anomalies of life.
* Siddharta is a novel by Herman Hesse
3. The wheel or chakra
Spinning the wheel
merely stops
anarchy let loose
Mahatma spun long ago,
a cloth called ahisma,
torn is the cloth now
completely ripped apart.
Communalism, hatred,
Discord, divides
bureaucracy
engulf cities, towns, villages
But a deep, enchantingly pristine forest
fosters ahisma
in the form of
Hope
for peace.
4. Love
Defining is difficult
Often mutual or even reciprocal
Unguent
Classified heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transsexual
Performing deep throat, oral, anal
Synonyms desire, passion, adoration
Even copulation.
Antique, varied, voluptuous
Media infected, illusion perched
Curious non-violent act
begetter of happiness
only to those with typical ways to love.
5. Hate
The Other side of love
Blindfolded, weakened nerves.
6. Wrath or the end of Ahisma
Burning, burning, burning
houses in flames
turning to dust
slowly, protractedly,
Awkward silence to violence
heard all around.
Objectification, subjugation
‘mind forg’d’ unsettling distance
Usher soul’s death.
Is this the end? Could this be it?
Answers gather like sediments
Wither like dried leaves.
7. Peace
Peace will never be attained
That is how it seems
Why then run around in circles
To catch
Peace
As if trying to get hold of a
Falling star
morbid manifestations of violence
crippled slightest chance of peace.
if the holiest sage reincarnated
he would say,
“nurture Aatman
and suffering will no longer be
but till then
stay put
and
utter
Shantih Shantih Shantih”.
* The title is taken from the poem Au Lecteur in Baudelaire’s Le Fleur du Mal
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