Sunday 15 August 2021

Tejeswini Nambirajan, Poetry 2021 Shortlist

The Melancholic Strain


He emerged in December
The invisible monster
Who invincingly devours people.
Diffusing families,
Sweeping off their near and dears,
He steers his chariot,
Far and wide

High and low.
Annihilating life as it pants.
He mops red on the white floors of time.
Yet, his hunger seems insatiable!
Floating panic in the air,
Painting panic everywhere!

He began with someone minuscule
Suddenly bursting to a Goliath
Nurturing through social gathering
Under whose sprawling shadow

We the humans
Lay locked amid domestic walls
Fighting the fear within
Failing to balance
Health and wealth
He floats panic in the air
Paints panic everywhere!

His fingers snapped
Deserting public places
Crowding coffins
Subtracting last rites from death
Adieus from lovely palms
Crippling the wheels of economy
Bombarding rigid dreams
With no sign of resurrection

He commands welcoming boundaries
To unwelcome guests
Floating panic in the air,
Painting panic everywhere!

Cruising through this thick and thin
Working round the clock
Saving as much as caring
Caring as much as saving
The physicians, the nurses,

The health professionals all crave
To fasten the widening grave
Yet despite all efforts
Oh! It aches to think
Life is just but a speck of dust
Awaiting to be dusted
By a melancholic strain!

No comments:

Post a Comment