Sunday, August 13, 2006

A paperback and a window seat

Lord Emsworth leaves Blandings for London
And the engine chokes to life
A loud vile cry declares departure
And the bus heads westwards
From the window, familiar city landscapes
Fibre-glass towers and screaming billboards
Turn into fields of paddy and sugarcane
In Paris, Elise finds love.
The engine's humming lulls me to a dream-enriched sleep
That angry honks and high-beams shatter easily.
Arezki is arrested, Elise ridiculed.
Outside, a child in an over-sized shirt
That has safety-pins filling in for buttons chases hens.
A country is partitioned, an exodus follows
Men of steel watch madness make butchers of others
And I dream of angry assasins.
The highway is clear and the bus gains momentum,
Beyond the lake, lights from the suburban porches announce the destination's approach.
A pig turns dictator and I step out to Terra Firma and reality
From that manic trance of confused reality, fiction and dreams
That a paper-back and a window seat evoke.

12 comments:

brokentooth said...

sakkath machi. i ij loving it. please to be poem-ing more.

Gaurav said...

Too Good....
for me.
Could understand a part of it.
In the end i'll say "khatarnak"

Kaavya said...

wokay!
getting to work.
now must you insist on inspiring me to write? its only natural to reply in the language you are addressed in.
ok it took all that chat to get out of blank verse mode and actually comment.
beautiful selection of style. how else to paint a vague but brightly coloured picture , like a dream? must have felt rather shaky after the ride,, and happy to be at your destination {where was that, btw?}
refreshing comeback, all in all.

skohari said...

funky!

PS: Reading this from CC-2.

Kaavya said...

yeah and only someone with a vague idea of the Blandings series would at all understand the pig

Padma said...

Suchi, thanks kane!I wish you would write a poem!
Gaurav, this is an amateurish attempt at poetry. If a part of it could not be understood, it means I should learn to write better!
Kaav, if I have inspired you to write, I am thrilled! The destination was Hassan....in fact it is about the hundreds of bus journeys I have made to Hassan.Next time, you come along. Maybe you will write something too :)Also, what you say about Blandings is also true but I was thinking of Animal Farm while writing!
Schazeb, thank you :)
Imran, many thanks!!:)

Vibha said...

wah!! kya baat hai!! keep it up!!

Padma said...

Vibha! Thank you!! :):):)

Gaurav said...

Hey Padma,
Its a standard stuff but the irony is I am incompatible.
Great job from your side.
Don't go after my multipurpose
"KHATARNAK" it was used for "NICE WORK".

Padma said...

Itne explanations mat do Gaurav! And thank you!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Led Zeppelin song

Queen of Light took her bow, And then she turned to go,
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom, And walked the night alone.

Oh, dance in the dark of night, Sing to the morning light.
The dark Lord rides in force tonight, And time will tell us all.

Oh, throw down your plow and hoe, Rest not to lock your homes.

Side by side we wait the might of the darkest of them all.

I hear the horses' thunder down in the valley below,
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon, waiting for the eastern glow.

The apples of the valley hold, The seeds of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care, Repay, do not forget, no, no.
Dance in the dark of night, sing to the morning light.

The apples turn to brown and black, The tyrant's face is red.

Oh war is the common plight, Pick up your swords and fight.
The sky is filled with good and bad that mortals never know.

Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.

The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath,
The drums will shake the castle wall, the ringwraiths ride in black, Ride on.

Sing as you raise your bow, shoot straighter than before.
No comfort has the fire at night that lights the face so cold.

Oh dance in the dark of night, Sing to the morning light.
The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back. Bring it back.

At last the sun is shining, The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunlight blinds his eyes.

Ooh, Bring it back, Bring it back...


Thought you might like it

Awesome Poem(talking about yr poem)
Truly,
Keep writing girl

Padma said...

Battle of evermore - Loved it! Thanks very much! Shall try to write regularly. :)