Prabhu Iyer

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

Now we are past the age
where fireworks make sense, when,
colours and sparkles mesmerize.

Let us sit down, friend,
and reminisce the wonder nights:
when the moon came visiting
and stood silent by the palm leaves,
the still leaves sang a song
to the passing winds
to the rhythm of dripping dew.

Everything is finished in a moment
here, like the sparkle-***.

Ages pass before we see,
the whirl that follows
in the wake of the Catherine-wheel
of time is in our eye.

Yet a night comes, lit by rows
of joyous lamps, when of long
lost, our soul returns.

That which we sought in objects vain
is forever our own, enshrined
forever behind the throb of sensation
here, is our undefeated kingdom,
closer than the closest.

Greetings to all for a very happy Diwali!

This is the day when the ancient hero Rama (symbolic of Divine Grace) returns to his capital 'Ayodhya' ('the undefeated' in Skt), after winning back his wife Sita (the individual self), taken captive by the 10-headed ogre Ravana (symbolic of the ten-sided nature of sensory delusion).

It is celebrated by lighting rows of small oil-lamps in all homes and altars, and the display of fireworks, chief among which, are the sparkle-*** and the Catherine-wheel, both favourites of children!

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

The laws of love

I walked with the hundreds
climbing mountain trails all day
and settling by the pebbles
at the summit, to hear you:

I, for one, never doubted
there was any scarcity of food;
Yes, you were always
a miracle worker.

On nights of wonder, you
spoke to us in secret on
marvelous things.
Actually, I did not care:

Whose grace floods the desert
and in whose law, love precedes,
such a one was with us and that was
all that mattered.

And now, by moonless nights,
when I stay up, alone and orphaned,
in struggle and privation,
I wonder, my friend, why is your

coming again set in the future?
Do you not come for love alone
than to keep the law? Do you
not part waters for our deliverance?

Part of a series of petitions to the Divine grace:

Read in continuation of:

http://hellopoetry.com/poem/maelstroms-redacted/
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/baptism-of-the-soul-1/
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/chiseling-our-destiny/
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/unfamished/
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/reveal-this-now-friend/

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

Nepenthe

Naive waves keep reaching for the oars:
who will explain to them, the rover is gone;
The empty vessel sways from side to side
in wheezing evening winds.

On moonlit nights of silken silences,
atop misty hills overlooking the waters
at Nepenthe's, a dreamed-up reverie.

After the dawn, the night lingers on;
In the darkened room, hiding in corners ,
and dying in the emptying space
hugged between the arms.

Yet, when snow covered everything, and
the clock ticked timeless, a throb enshrined
in the heart of the stalled heart of time,

of those many years ago, carries on.

Nepenthe (http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/) is a restaurant perched amid unbelievable beauty and charm among the hills and by the sea, in the Big Sur national park, California, USA. Something reminded me of the night I was there many years ago...`

Of course, the word 'nepenthe' in English also refers to a drink that brings forgetfulness of sorrow or pain, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nepenthe

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

The looking glass

You need the low angle for the camera
to zoom in on my frame: I can scale
the skies, jump down cars, beat
the baddies and romance girls
by age by half: I'm the hero. I defy
everything. Age included.

Look up close, there are no wrinkles;
Muscles, better than gymbuffs';
Hair, not a strand grey, and
skin, as elastic as young. Yet
I've been around for a good quarter
of the lives of you the commonfolk .

There is no start or middle here:
I know no crises, I know no end.
Touch the screen, feel
the sparkle! I'm the polestar
of the ordinary life, I defy
everything. Life included.

In the secret chamber of my private
existence, I sometimes peep
out of the looking glass, but
the glimpse you saw of my eye
blown up, is all you can catch
of the tears that line their tips.

An inside-out look at the life of the superstar!

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

Hysteresis (short poem)

Hypermart.
News on air.

Boondoggles,
owl ogles,
ongoing.

Jaywalking.

Reverse gear.
Biting into ginger.

Hindsight: familiar.
Slow down,
observant mirror.

Heartwringing.

Twigs
flying in a whirl.

Coiled up cord;
Snakes from the past.
Boondocks,

hornswoggling,
heartwarming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysteresis

rather, in the context of this poem, 'Hissterisis', may be?!

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

The mystic voice

Then, when a pin-fall echoes ringing
in the enveloping darkness,
and muddied silence eclipses all light,
spreading all around
the mistletoe
guards the path forward,

we must know, it will all end.
For a greater power than all we know,
than even the greatest of Gods,
a secret is enshrined within
the very fabric of existence:
a mystic voice echoes,

from the mists, a boon-giving hand
reassures us lost here:
Whenever in trouble, wherever you be
call and the help shall swell forth
from within the wells
dug empty in the crusts of our being;

Like the last light of the evening
the image of clay disappears
into the waters, that in mystic union
connect earth and the heavens,
appearing again year after year
in yet more lovely forms:

A river of love that swells forth
at our suffering, the cradle
of our weal and woe, the Mother
of everything that ever is.
Nine there might be, the darkest
of nights, but the tenth is

the day of victory for sure!

Navaratri or the 'Festival of 9 nights' is the most important celebration in Hinduism's annual calendar. The festival salutes the feminine aspect of the Divine, and ends in a celebration of the ultimate victory over darkness on the 10th day, called 'the Victorious 10th Day'.

In ancient times, all the Gods assembled their collective power in a great Goddess, who won a victory over the seemingly indefatigable buffalo-headed demon, Mahisha. After the war, the Goddess departs, bestowing a boon to all her devotees, that She will always appear and protect her children, whenever they call upon Her earnestly in their suffering.

The famous Durga Puja celebrations in Eastern India form part of this festival. The Great Goddess is worshipped in a specially crafted clay image for the last 4 days of the '9 nights', after which the image is immersed in sacred waters. If you wish to explore further: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navratri

Prabhu Iyer Oct 2013

Maelstroms (redacted)

Here in receding darkness, the sky meets the earth;
In waning hours, here the music of the waves
consoles the mourning sands; here I go pursuing
the citadel of mists, rising lotus-like from clouds
hanging on rugged mountains in the distance.

Maelstroms in the desert carry vortices of sand
and moist fragments of mirages of oases;
The fury of the sea brooks no contenders:
***** make home the sands levelled flat of my
feats; Again the uproar of mist-filled thirst.

Invisible companion, tonight, in moonlit silence,
will you come walking waters, like those ages
many, of Galilee ago? A storm is brewing.
A labyrinth of seasons in the Catherine-wheel
of life, growing and swirling out of the haze;

Redacted draft from versions of this piece!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth