| by Sunalie Ratnayake
(October 13, 2012, Los Angeles -
Sri Lanka Guardian)
I meandered forlorn as a veil,
that masked the top of a peak so
dark,
entangled around her cone-like
crown,
a secluded ivory vaporous puff,
beyond the savannah, amidst the
shrubs,
hunting rapport, like one that’s
lost,
a sheer floating “CLOUD”, for a
moment in sought,
of a home, a lover – in a sudden
mountain top…
Incessant was I – now been a
“TRANQUIL WAVE”,
which troll up-and-down in a
subtle game,
guiding the path, of the brook
that surged,
filling the river, beneath the
said mountain range,
as a wave, for a jiffy, I was
leading the way,
yet, again been lost in a
moment’s delay,
as I tumble to the sea, now
crafting “WAYWARD WAVES”,
a rendezvous that kills the
quietude once held,
ending my journey in the creek,
on the bend,
as the river shall meet the
mighty old sea,
I travel from serenity to
boundless insecurity,
now a “WAVE” that’s lost in her
destiny…
I gaze with poise at the village,
in awe,
from up-above, in a world far
away,
I’m the “MOON”, now showering my
beams so dense;
settling white stained light, on
canopies jade…
been supple to let my gleam pass
through;
the vacuity beneath high leaves,
offering shade…
I kiss barren fields, and the
paddy patches lime,
bestowing my light – on the
couple in delight;
making-love in the night, amidst
my moonlight in sight…
in-between, I pamper a snoozing
wild fowl;
rolling her eyes, which shine
bright in my light…
then I shoot my beams, like grins
of the night;
on the wattle-and-daub huts - of
dwellers who fear no fright,
for ages or more, who’ve seen
many a moon of mine…
finally I sprinkle my beams on
the well;
flaking ‘despair’ from its water
still, and unwell…
yet the ‘meadows’ or the
‘shadows’ of the ‘trees’ or the ‘sheds’,
or even the deep ‘zombie’-like
terror of the ‘well’,
never seem to realize how their
beauty is ablaze - in my presence how enriched would be their gaze,
the lovers too tangled in their
knotted wild stance – a world of their own, where yearning prevails,
‘nonentity’ ; am I, to all who’s
spirits I’ve raised - all through the night with my heavenly gaze,
hence it’s time for a hushed
‘cheerio’, I sense – as the “MOON”, I quietly change my guise…
Constant as the stars that gleam,
and sparkle like some radiant
beads,
I gloss the brink of the thin
green leaf;
as a “DEW” globule - about to
kiss the fine field…
I absorb in the auburn soil in
need;
of my fresh and soothing squelchy
fluid,
I vanish once more, before the
dawn may greet;
a novel day in the parish, with a
sun so deep…
my passage has ended yet, once
again,
as I bid sendoff, deprived of a
single trace…
Finally a “CRICKET”, am I
camouflaged,
on the chocolate branch;
dispersing from the Chokecherry
stalk…
beneath the peak - shaped like an
upturned cone;
the one I then stroked, as a
solitary rain “CLOUD”,
while hunting for love, in a
frosty woolen fold,
now committed to a branch, of the
shade of ‘mold’,
no one may distinguish, between
the tree and my role,
my ‘antennae’ do stroke, on the
dull space that unfolds,
then do I flee, to yet another
russet tree,
which looks quite the same, like
the dreary old me,
‘chirping’ my nocturnal tunes -
‘dull’, yet with ‘glee’;
in the ears of a loner, it’s
still a fair melody,
until the vibrant ‘chameleon’ may
realize it’s me, lastly;
that ‘he’ had been waiting to
‘guzzle’ and flee,
ending my journey from another
‘guise’ in me,
once a ‘CLOUD’, a ‘WAVE’, then
the ‘MOON’ that couldn’t be,
all that I wanted, even less than
I could be,
I still tried as a ‘DEW’ drop,
and a ‘CRICKET’, to lead me,
to the realm I desired –
‘forever’, I thought it would be,
but soon realized, this was all
‘malarkey’,
‘epitaphs’ made no meaning, where
‘uncertainty’ was free…
a journey continues, in sundry
shapes - many profiles,
until a platform may transpire,
that could bring true ‘liberty’…
This poem is about the journey filled
with uncertainty - the life’s journey of a human being, who seeks comfort at
various resting places, merely assuming that the paths crossed are true resting
places that may bring ultimate peace or contentment.
As the travels continue, (he or)
she changes (his or) her ‘form’, or ‘guise’; initially from that of a “CLOUD”,
to a “WAVE”, to the “MOON”, to a “DEW” drop, and finally, to a “CRICKET” (the
insect).
Yet, soon realizing none of the
paths crossed are permanent, or that none of the forms or guises lasted long
enough to gain contentment, hence, unable to settle-down in either of the
places been available as destinations are reached one by one, the ‘endless
journey’ of the ‘individual’, or the ‘life’ continues.
The comfort, or the serenity been
sought, never seem to be there. Even if it seemed or felt like ‘home’ at
certain moments in time, that ‘perpetuity’ appears to vanish without mere
warning.
In most instances, the various
entities been served throughout the journey, does not even realize it’s worth,
or in the least, that a benefit had been bestowed upon such entities.
Those who believe in ‘rebirth’
may also interpret the concealed, unfathomable meaning behind this piece of
rhyme, as that of a person’s journey from one life to another, seeking
‘gratification’ – the perpetual travels in “Samsara”, in search of a precise
resting place, only to realize, all places and spaces are temporary refuges.
Moreover, it indicates the
‘temporary-nature’ of various given moments in one life, or the ‘bareness’ in
voyages / crossings of a series of lives linked with one another.
Sunalie Ratnayake is a Sri Lankan
Journalist based in USA. She could be
reached at :-
sunalie.secretandbeyond@yahoo.com
/ sue@srilankaguardian.org
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