our feelings fill up the universe
and our thoughts tumble
all over the cosmos like babies
so we are the rain falling
from the sky
which are also children
floating like angels
and we are birds flying
we are the stars shining
the moon hiding from ourselves
we are so strange
we are animals running around
deranged
then soon we become flowers
and lovers in a park
and a kiss no one would miss.
like a mother when I wake
the mountains are like
my babies
gurgling in the sun
and little children flit
about like butterflies
the sky sings
and everyone is
so happy
we all dance
and birds hover
over us
excited
flapping their wings
and we fly
and the trees
call our names
and sway
and we are now
so beautiful
we fall like rain.
how we become
emotional
as humans
we feel
we care
we cry
our hearts break
our minds crack
at sorrow
at its tears
and babies
and mothers
are special
they are
so tender
their play
so sweet
how the sun
laughs in joy
and the pain
of others
makes us so sad
we can go mad
it can be that bad.
they know their world is gone
they are not fools
although they are young
and small
they feel pain too
and the babies next door
seem to have lost their hearts
their universe
and they howl at the loss
and it is heartbreaking to hear
their wailing so painful
as though they would die
and you understand
that we were born to suffer
and see our lives snuffed out
and our cosmos disappear.
is widening the road to his house
workers shovel mud off
the embankment
and the babies next door
are crying aloud
and then go silent
and the birds chirp
so sweetly
and now one baby howls
and then begins talking
to a lady
and I can hear an autorickshaw
in the distance
and then it goes silent
and the neighbourhood
is blasted with golden sunlight
and the leaves of my clove tree
are so still they mesmerise me
with their green their beauty their shape
against my neighbour’s house and the sky
and the baby and the lady
pick up their conversation again
and soon the other baby joins in
and vaaaa vaaaa vaaaa vaaa they go
as the ladies laugh and the world lightens
to a leaf and I feel like the wind blowing.
and discomfort
and danger
the body gone bad
the mind too
and there is no change
in the outside world
golden sunlight shines
on the forests and mountains
and you know for sure
you are sick and soon
you will die
and you admire the world
for its seeming timelessness
you know how bigger
than you it is
and then birds chirp
and babies are born
everyday
and you greet
your neighbours’ kids
as you pass by
and then you think
of your ailments
and you know
you are fading
like a photograph
you are nearing
your end
and then in some more time
you will also fade
from the memories
of the people who knew you
and I look outside my window
and see how the leaves
of my clove trees
are still
like they could listen
to what I was thinking
and the blue sky beyond
bright as ever
bye bye bye bye
I say to it
I have no regrets
and like a butterfly I will flit
from life to death
where formlessly I will sit
forever like a vanished zit.
Dominic Alapat 