Looking for You, O'
Me and You
Life and Death
We walked together
Coolly so far
Hand in hand
‘You are so frail’
You would trap and tease
‘No worry,
You are so strong’
I would free and ease
And then
In a tease
You left me
To play
Hide and Seek
You became Terror
I became Fear
In the lasting game
I play with you
You play with many
You hide
Somewhere
In those bags
I look for you
In a child’s toy
You pat me,
From nowhere
I turn in vain
Round and round
Looking for you
You hide again
Somewhere
In those bins
I look for you
In a stranger’s eye
His eyes meet mine
Fear greets Fear
We smile in vain
And pass
Looking for you…
O' Death,
Fearlessly...
Coming to terms with terror and death,
on the streets in Delhi
after terrorist attack…..
Life gets back to normal,
yet one can't help
looking for bombs, death
in roadside bins, children's toys,
stranger's eye....
That's not easy.
Death with me hand in hand
was much more....
Posts
78 comments:
powerful!
How better could this have been explained...This is why I feel poetry is such a powerful medium and devika, you crafted it so eloquently...
I wish you to read my "A disarrayed note on poetry" in older posts sometime...
Hi Andrew!
Thank you :-)
and thank you so much for coming..
see more of you in your 'tenses':-)
Hi Amalendu:
Thank you..i feel so honoured when it comes from you.
Sure, I will read that,over this weekend!
thanks you so much for coming..
eager to see more of the 'women in you' :-)
An apt description of the two things that we are most certain of! The absolute truths, life and death!
"You pat me, From nowhere
I turn in vain, Round and round
Looking for you"
Very powerful description there! I am reminded of the quote in the Bhagavad Gita that urges us to focus on our day to day life so as to not be overwhelmed by the thought of being mortal!
Exquisite..!!
but how many of us are in search of death..for most of us its like we keep on hiding from death and it pounce on us when least expected..!!
i cant find a place to hide..nor am courageous to go and hunt for it..!!
i liked the style of your writing..!!
~~You are so frail’
You would trap and tease
‘No worry,
You are so strong’
I would free and ease~~
loved those lines..!! deep meanings..!!
:)
wow!! such strong thoughts!!
great post!!
;-))
Terrific - and terrifying in its simple intensity.
His eyes meet mine
Fear greets Fear
We smile in vain
And pass
Looking for you…
"You pat me,
From nowhere
I turn in vain
Round and round
Looking for you"
this was my fav.
All the expressions were powerful..apt and deep..This is one of those rare works were everything naturally fall in the right place..
Student to zen master- what a beautiful morning this is!
master- you me and the world know it is beautiful.Why do you kill beauty by shouting about it...
(The exact story is different..)
but i don't want to repeat the student's mistake..
I just want to read it again and again..
Certain kind of a woman bt socio-political...in this friendly match!
take care..
MIP
"Coolly so far Hand in hand.." and this coolness is today lost..!!!
Well said, that today 'death' can be in anything and anywhere..! Sad.
Words are beautifully woven. Very impressive.Thank you for your kind visit. God Bless.
hey nice work...
wow, devika, your voice resonates powerfully.
Very nicely expressed :-)
The fear in ppl is captured so well in this verse Devika...really heartfelt post!
This is the story of Sri Lanka too, for 20+ years. Thats why I dun even wanna go there on a holiday for so long...cos u never know when and where the next bomb will explode.
Human civilsation has DETERIORATED into a very sad phase where killing each other has become the norm.
Keshi.
indeed. the possibility of death all around, yet life must go on...
It's true, Death can even be, as you show so eloquently, a friend, a companion, and part of life.
It's when death is imposed on life by murderers such as terrorists and those who make war, that it becomes a fearful thing.
Can I say then that the evil in humans is what we are most afraid of?
Dai..this is compact and powerul.
Hi Rak!
Thanks for your kind reading and comment….
Yeah, Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the only text that helps in tackling the love and fear for the absolute truths you said, life and death. As terror or otherwise
See more of you ‘redefining oblivion’ :-)
Devika
Hi Vinu!
Thanks for coming again….
I am happy that you liked it…
Death is always there with life…but when it becomes terror – a bomb on the street, the possibility of it being anywhere– one has to hunt for it, no?
Yet one has to be fearless…then the idea of death as the eternal companion of life only helps…I have cleared that in the note down below…its not my love for death that makes me search for it…..
Happy to know that you like the style, and thanks for letting me know.
See you soon there at yours :-)
devika
Hi Deep!
Welcome here! And thank you for the kind comment
See more of you at Thankful Oblivion and here too…
devika
Hi Raji!
Yeah terrifying and sad it is…
To look for a terrorist in a stranger’s eye and to see the fear reflecting in his face looking for a terrorist in me….But we often just see Fear greeting Fear..
Not all, but many on the streets look fear personified!
Thanks for your kind reading and perceptive comment..
See you soon there!
Devika
Hi MIP!
Thank you for your kind reading and the kind appreciation of it…
Thanks for that last remark – you read it well. The Certain Kind Of Woman beats the Socio-Political many a time, within me…That’s why I’m silent on many an issue there :-)
See more of you in the Painting and out of it…
When you came out in the last one, you became more insightful..
Devika
Hi Kat!
Yes Kat ...Death has always been a cool companion of life…
But, since it became terror on the streets, the ‘cool’ of life is lost
More than sad, the thought is frightening…because it started playing with many…
Thank you for coming..and kind reading
See more of you at ‘Chumma Kat’ :-)
Devika
Hi Venus!
Thank you so much for coming again…and the kind comment..
I have seen you added my link there. Many thanks for that…My listing links at my site is a long-overdue task..need to do sometime soon...
I am glad you appreciate the verse
See more of you there!
God Bless!
Devika
Hi Rakesh!
Thank you coming and the appreciation.. :-)
See you soon at yours…
Devika
Hi Polona!
So glad to see you here..:-)
& Nice to know that the voice is reaching out…
See you there soon
Devika
Hi Cherie!
So nice to see you here…and thanks you for the kind appreciation :-)
See more of your there and here too..
Devika
Hi Keshi!
Thank you for coming and that approving comment..
Yes, India, Srilanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mid-East..the list goes on…
One terror struck the US and they spread the malady…’War on Terror’ --- has taken us to these days of walking on streets fearing a bomb explosion anytime, and searching for death in the form of bombs, terrorists …
You, from Sri Lanka?? I am a new one there and yet to know your resume in full :-)
See you more
Devika
Hi Kouji!
Thank you coming and that discerning comment.
Life must go on..and go on fearlessly. The only way, I felt, that one can do this in these terrorism-struck days is to look at death as an eternal companion of life…
See more of your haikus :-)
Devika
Hi Kouji!
Thank you coming and that discerning comment.
Life must go on..and go on fearlessly. The only way, I felt, that one can do this in these terrorism-struck days is to look at death as an eternal companion of life…
See more of your haikus :-)
Devika
Hi Firebird!
Thank you so much for that most discerning comment.
I told you before-- your reading is as fine as your writing :-)
It is the evil in humans – the Evil that forces death on not just one but many innocents at a time – that one is most afraid of.
Death -- it is there with one always to trap life in its friendly clutches….
Thank you so much for coming, friend!
See more of you on the ‘landing’:-)
devika
Hi Cyclop!
Thank you so much for coming again and that kind appreciation
You speak Tamil? 'Dai' is a typical Tamilian style of address here in India among men. But no one called me so far, a woman in her forties :-)
See more of you here and at yours as well…I will soon be there.
Devika
indeed. death ever pervades our lives. we cannot allow fear to limit us.
Hello Devika !
I like Your photos...
And the words are so impressives...
See You later...
well said
I do like the style of your poem!
But life will not get back to normal for everyone. I believe different groups should have their own nations where they can live in peace. People should only live together if they love each other.
What do you think?
Hi Devika,
I had visited this earlier and did not have anything to comment, being right-brain challenged :-)
But since you insist, I will leave with a Mark Twain quote : “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Cheers,
Salil
Hi Kouji
Very true, rightly said!
See you soon at yours
devika
Hi Webradio,
Thanks for coming and the kind comment.
On those photos – they are not mine. The credit goes to some unknown owner..I just sourced it from Flickr.com :-)
See you soon at yours..
Love watching the French/European way of life there…
A plus tard, Webradio
devika
Hi Crafty Green!
Thank you for coming and the kind appreciation..
See more of you there..
Love your Dresden photos as your poetry…
devika
Hi Art and Poetry!
You came --thank you!! & It’s an honour to know you liked the style..
I cannot agree with you more….when you say…life will not get back to normal for everyone.
And as you said people should only live together if they love each other. Its better for different groups to have their own nations if they cannot live peacefully with their differences…
That could be the starting point of a debate, though.
I am with you for the reason you said, and those who can still love, living in their own nations can perhaps share their regard for each other like we do on the internet… but its important, I think that people, humanity stay connected…that could be through books…art, Internet…
Thank you so much for coming and that insightful comment..
See more of your art and rhyme..
devika
Hi Salil!
First,thank you for the comment:-)
And then – are you kidding dear friend..saying this challenged your right brain...On an issue that so pervades us...and put across in the most simple way I could…
And on insisting you – I thought you would perhaps bring a lighter aspect to it. The issue is not light, though…But you were just on spot with that Mark Twain quote…
Urging one to live life in full for the moment and to face death fearlessly....that’s message I was looking for ….caught in fear and terror, I missed sight of it…
thanks Salil! So you see my insistence had a purpose...
And a bit more on insisting others – with friends I take the liberty to insist, with acquaintances, whom I doubt they missed to see me and feel their comment is worthwhile, I remind them. and those ‘blessed ones’ who wish to stay high up I seldom disturb a second time…still I would visit them and leave my mark, if they have something to offer me….
And lastly -- I am writing after twenty years of silence, except for the business writing I do as part of the job…so perhaps it’s a kind of reassuring myself when I seek comments on it from others….a kind of learning the art all over again…
Why did I say all this…..by now you know the ‘Certain Kind of Woman’ I am!
Thanks again Salil!
See more of you there...
devika
it's time for another of your poems! :)
Oh my,
Andrew! You surprise me...
To let me know that my poems are worthy of reading ..I feel so honoured, happy...and what not good of it?
But, please don't make me a 'poetry vending machine':-))with such comments my poor naive soul may be too thrilled to churn verse off...and that would be disastrous, I feel...
these verse comes as I clear the mess, that I told, I am....
but thanks Andrew, thanks so much...for coming again. I will surely let you when I'll be at yours on my daily rounds :-)
Best Wishes!
devika
@Andrew!
Just missed to say --
May be in meantime perhaps you would wish to read firebird,if you have not come across her at:
http://firebirdlanding.blogspot.com/
she has some fine poetry, pictures too...
devika
Life will go on, no matter what. There is no other choice...
Thanks Devika, for visiting my blog and commenting. And here I see many of my old friends...:D
Hi Gautami!
Thank you for coming and commenting..
You know, when you say "Life will go on, no matter what." my mind feels like filling the rest --
Life will go on, no matter whether we write poetry of it, prose of it or prosetry of it!! :-))
And you are right ..Life will go on...until one day when death comes either as a bomb blasting on us or embracing us as a friend in its strong clutches...
anyway, thanks for coming and you could find some 'old' friends here...i thought this was one medium where friends would never become 'old'! poor me!!
anyway thanks, Gautami!
and see more of you there!
devika
very powerful.
are you okay over there?
yes Im a Sri Lankan girl :) living in Aus.
Keshi.
Hi Kai!
How are you, dear girl?
So nice to have you here..and that you found it effective...
Yeah, things are getting back to normal...except high security in certain pockets of the City..But bomb blast is becoming so commonplace in India..it sometimes is still frightening...
And Kai, I should say your 'brainwash' was too straight, hitting right..i always had something of that kind in me....may be i would have written a prose....the verse was real good, Kai!
See more of you!
take care
devika
Hi Keshi,
Nice to know :-)
So we were neighbours in our childhood - I belong to Kerala ;-)
see you there
devika
Wow what a fantastic blog, thanks for your comments on mine.
Cheers
http://reginainpictures.blogspot.com/
There's power in your poetry, Devika. What else to do but quote the 19th century British explorer, soldier poet and translator of Kama Sutra, Vicram and the Vampire (Tales of Hindu Devilry), from his long philosophical poem - The Kasidah:
‘We dance along death's icy brink, but is the dance less full of fun’.
fragile life, urge to get home, glimpses as the fear in the eyes of the stranger.in me too, coz i too am a stranger in the crowd.
this is a good post.
keep writing!
Very touching!Ur view of the world is quiet surprising & appreciable.
Really great!
Mirage:))
Incredible! You wrote a picture, and I hope things become brighter day after day. Thanks for stopping by my blog, loved your comment.
Be well~
The power of words.really speaks.
Hi Migs!
Thank you for coming and the positive comment on the blog.
I loved the pictures there…will come again!
See you there again!
devika
Hi Borut!
Thank you Borut…I am happy that it is striking…
and this ‘Small River of Words’ is highly appealing, as it is informative, to me..
..The dance is no less full of fun’ anytime. but sincerely, playing hide and seek with the death as a terror, the steps of my dance is trying for more rightness…or righteousness-somehow feel life should be played with fun, and played virtuously ..its my personal experience…
Thank you Borut…
See more of you at ‘The HOO of Haiku!
Love them so much for stretching my imagination…
Devika
Hi Work-of-Fiction
You have a nice blog name :-)
Thank you for coming …and the comment that you relate with it..
That’s perhaps the most worthy appreciation a writer can have…
Happy that you like it…and I shall strive to write my experience/thoughts
I hope to see you at yours soon…
devika
Hi Mirage!
Thank you for coming :-)
And the kind appreciating comment…
See you again!
The trendy fashionable question there was funny! :-)
Devika
Hi Zapped!
Thank you so much for coming and the kind appreciating comment..
And thank you for the promise of hope you offer…
I liked your blog for the pictures and way you caption your pictures :-)
Will be there again…
Hope to see you again here too…
devika
Hi Starry!
Thank you so much for coming…
I am glad you found it striking…
The words and verse were perhaps a lookout for gaining power within…
In the face of terror, fear fails miserably…
Thanks again for coming
See more of you there..
devika
The dark is somehow brighter than light, when despair takes us by surprise..
but humans have the a latent supreme force within that is what makes them Great.. to survive!
Someday, it will be life looking for death to make her pay the toll..
(my thoughts sometimes make no sense.. to the naked eye that is!!)
=)
Life and existence of a human bond turns fragile when directions fade. Lovely. Came thru' Starry blog.
Life is full, but are we? A big question mark, eh?
Hi Whisperer
Thank you for coming and the comment.
I got a bit late here…Internet problems struck me :-))
I agree on the first two statements you said…
But on the third your thoughts would make sense to me if it were “Someday, it will be 'death' looking for 'life' to make her pay the toll..”
Because in that verse, life was already liking for death. and life was the 'she' there…
But if you still hold “Someday, it will be 'life' looking for 'death' to make her pay the toll..” I seek a clarification….
thank you for coming, whisperer!
Wishes!
devika
Hi Priya!
Thank you so much for coming and the comment!
I wrote about the coexistence of life and death..and the uselessness of being fearful of death in the face of terror or otherwise....death is life's eternal companion...
But if you read more there – fragility of human bond etc–it’s the poet in you :-)
I have been to your blog-- a rushed visit – you write so well, I have seen…
Will visit again!
Wishes!
devika
Hi Life-as-it-is!
Thank you for coming and the interesting question…
When does life become full for each of us– or we become full ourselves?
I think it – each of our ‘destined’ life or the 'living self'– becomes full when death comes upon us
But was I looking for death for that reason – perhaps not! :-)
Anyway, thanks for coming. Have been to your blog…I think it should be interesting as it comes along ….Life as it is …the name itself interests me….you can see that at ‘my interests’ in ‘my profile’…
Hope to see more of you there…
Wishes!
devika
thank you. i was a little disturb when i wrote it. things were annoying me.
Hi Kai!
Sorry dear, I just noted that I have not responded to you...infact I was under the impression I did that y'day..
I could make out..you were disturbed, annoyed and sad..
please be relaxed Kai..let the world learn and change its ways..true, it pains even to see that...but believe that today you have more people loving you, praying for you when they see that you are sad...
take care...
yours,
devika
I meant that someday life will overcome death
Oh yes Whisperer!
that way, yes, life overcoming death...
In some study on Virginia Woolf's Waves, i came across this vision by the author: "the individual life is a wave, and life itself the sea; to look at oneself as one wave is to perish when the single wave breaks, but to see oneself as an indivisible part of the sea, composed of innumerable drops of water -- as part of wave after wave -- is to gain immortality"
I think my outlook on life and death lies in the essene of this quote...
yeah your whispers are many a time indecipherable to me..as though you come out from your intangible cave of experience...thats why I seek clarification...hope you don't mind :-)
thanks again!
see you there..
devika
Yes I know that 'scare'.
This so well written and expressed. Be safe!
Hi Indrani!
Thank you for coming and the kind comment!
See again
Wishes!
Devika
I dont remember where i read this " death is the final bonus for living your life"
When i was in 4th std , I had a wierd feeling that there will be some group of tribe or society where in people will cry when a baby is born and smile when some one is dead. i assumed they will cry because some one has come to this world to live and smile that he is going for a better world. Niether I have any clue why i had that thought at that age nor why I remember that now as i read your post
Death is the finale of life...
all that one could say.
i know none who cry when a baby is born..but in India there are communities who sing and dance their way to the cremation ground..ofcourse after a mourning..
to die at the peak of liveliness - death playfully taking one off from this world...the imagination gives me a kind of thrill.
love every moment of my life..but i wait for it. earnestly, eagerly...
wishes,
devika
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