sun – Fleeting Muse

Burn and Old: Set of Three Haikus

Sun burnt leaves wrinkled,
Withered like an old man’s skin,
Dogma shrivels minds.
**
Burn down the bridges,
Divided and conquered cry,
Corrupt old men rule.
***
Old wound bleeds silent
Rejected heart tries to heal,
Burn the memories.

Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku # 391- Burn and Old

Those Red Lips

The day started with light banters with friends in some WhatsApp groups and soon I ended up writing a short poem in Hindi that I translated in short order to my mother tongue Axomiya ( Assamese) and English. So far so good. However trying to present all three poems side by side in one page proved more troublesome than writing and translating the poems. To make a long story short, after some trial and error, and unfortunately munching on snacks that were surely unwanted, here I am. Rest assured the poem is light, however after all those snacks I cant say that for myself.

*Photo in the background free from internet.*

In Your Eyes

In the unfathomable depth
of your eyes,
Is written my death;
As surely the setting sun
Dips its toes in the ocean,
So shall I.

Oh, how I gaze,
Gingerly I step,
Cold hand of death,
Comes up and embrace,
Who knew death
Would be so sweet,
Such pleasure in
Losing oneself.

Slowly everything darkens,
A soft light glows,
Music rises to a crescendo,
And rupture.

Tranquility,
As I lie,
My eyes shut,
So I died.

Who is singing?
Rejoice,
Surely as the sun will rise,
So shall you.

What blasphemy!
From peace
To seeking again?
Rebirth a myth.

I lie at peace,
Eyes closed,
And from those
unending depths,
You opened
The universe to me.

What mysteries
Those eyes held?

Ignorance

I have not posted much on my blog for quite some time now to avoid the madness that the country is experiencing at present clouding my thought process and introduce undue negativity in my writing. However I had a sinking feeling that rust may have set in due to the prolonged non-use. I am not even sure if the piece below can be called a poem or not. I tried to stay away from politics as much as possible, so there is nothing political in the post. However readers beware, it has my other favorite topic, religion. So if you feel that you may be offended, stop here. I shall understand.

Ignorance

Bidding good bye to the night, the moon asked the rising sun,

What’s your religion, do you identify as Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian or Mussalman?

Painting the dawn sky red, the rising sun brightly replied,

I have but one and only one religion, that is to spread warmth and light.

From the beginning of time I shone my light on the earth without malice,

All the sages and seers, Zarathustra, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, all seen the light.

I do not discriminate, Vatican to Mecca, Jerusalem to Ayodhya,I spread the same light,

Every corner of the earth, everything I touch, I nurture without any divide.

Why suddenly is this question of religion, what are you trying to imply,

Now that humans trying to colonize you, are you afraid of being maligned?

Have you not noticed everything that nature has provided are free, no religions attached,

The light, wind, water, sound, all forces of nature, even pandemics, are unbiased.

Nature is magnanimous, nature is free, not bound by any religious boundaries,

Alas, so seems human ignorance that try to label the free supreme energy.

Dark was the night

These set of Haikus reflect my thoughts about the current situation of fires sparked by lightning in northern California

dark was the night sky

lightning’s macabre dance struck

prometheus laughed

*****

blue was the dawn sky

quick stepping fire, sensuous

grey sky hid the sun

*****

ravenous hunger

terrain, a sumptuous meal

scorched earth cries dry tears

****”

dreams collapse and die

nature’s fury relentless

a colorless sky

*****

dawn breaks, a dim sun

unstoppable red devil

bravehearts stand guard

*****

Sunsets, Sunrise and Nature’s Fury

Just ten days back, the sky was cloudy that by itself should not be a matter of concern to anyone. However in northern California, in summer, we are more accustomed to see clear blue skies during summer than cloudy skies, so much so, that to take a photo with the sky as a background one needs to have a good circular polarizer filter to get some contrast. So when the sky is cloudy, it is much easier to take photos with the sky as a background and normally we are rewarded with beautiful sunsets. So on August 13, Thursday, I was up on One Tree Hill near our house to capture a good sunset photograph. But even I was not prepared to see what nature presented. It was awesome.

Sunset from my backyard on the afternoon of August 13, 2020. Someone said that it looked like Martian sky. Maybe it was just the prelude to what nature had in store for us.

On Sunday, August 16, early morning, California was struck by an unusual dry lightning and thunder storm. Within a very short period of time several hundred intense lightning strikes were reported. As per report, during the next seventy two hours, the state was struck by more than ten thousand lightning strikes, though the majority of intense strikes were on early Sunday morning. As expected, fire started to light up around the state with majority of them concentrated in norther California. Rapidly burning fires forced evacuation as well as destruction of properties and natural wonders. The Big Basin Redwood Forest State Park, about forty five minutes drive from our house was burnt. The visitor center was completely burnt down to the ground. The fate of the old redwood trees, some older than two thousand years and two feet plus tall are not known yet.

Not sure if any of these behemoths are still standing after the fire. These photos were taken on August 1, 2015.

The fires are still burning without much of it being contained. For last four to five days now, the sky is covered by smoke from all the fires burning. University of California, Santa Cruz was evacuated. Thousands of firefighters are fighting valiantly to contain the fires. We pray for their success because in their success lies our safety. Please send your prayers for their safety. Already six people lost their lives. As I am writing this, lots of properties were damaged and many had to leave their homes to safety and others are packed and waiting for the dreaded evacuation orders.

As the state burns and the sky is covered with smoke, nature has presented her colors with beautiful sunsets and sunrises. It’s of little solace to all who are affected by the fury of the fire. We were staying at home due to COVID and now hoping that everyone can stay at their homes and not get displaced due to the fires. Though at first the smokes from the fires produced beautiful sunsets and sunrise, now it is only gray sky hiding the sun.

Sunset on August 17, 2020 from One Tree Hill

Sunrise on August 18, 2020 from my front yard

Midday sun on August 19, 2020 from my front yard. Sky covered in smoke.

I soar to an unknown beyond

far above the clouds

gingerly I tread

my eyes on the rising sun

I soar

riding the sun rays

to an unknown beyond

freed from the bondings

holding me to the earth

I soar

a path unknown

but a journey beautiful

can only imagine

the adventure and

excitement that lies beyond

let me ride the

waves of your love

and for you

leaving behind the

story of my life

I soar

to an unknown beyond

Searching for my muse

Deprived of my wings at birth,
May be the angels
were afraid, that
like Ikerus,
I shall attempt
to touch the sun,
and get burnt.

But I bargained
to set my
mind free,
soared high
and gained the
whole universe,
Imagination unbridled.

From unseen depths
of the ocean,
To places even
gods fear to tread,
I roam,
in search of
my elusive muse.

Alas, it’s a journey futile,
Travelogue continues,
Search goes on,
Certain that
once destination arrived,
the reward of discovery
shall silence my mind.