The white luminary finally sketched itself along the lines of the dark canvas sky...

And my serene heart suddenly went out of the way...

To spill all my secrets to the watcher in the sky...in wild sobs and silent howls...

I hear ancient horses neigh and the crickets seem to be in a frenzy...

Could I have helped myself from spilling my own secrets...?

...

Somewhere deep inside the ocean... a sleeping oyster wakes to expose it's pearl bed to the same haunting shadow in the sky...

It looks up to the brooding moon in question of how it forces without force...

To come out of your hiding... Naked to the core!

The oyster too wonders aloud :Could I have concealed my mystery a little further?

Fallen stars on parched land...

Brought with them a piece of heaven...

The child in me ran to collect... in fragile hands...

To hang them in tender threads from the window...

So as to light up my heart upon a dark day!

The wise wind blows one part of the desert to meet the other...

Forming a family of sand dunes that ever live in peace...

For the wind knows...

That to live under the scorching heat of the sun and for the fear of loneliness of the vast desert to fade away...

The sands would need company!

The girl never knew what love was...

She had only heard people falling in love...

But whether love was an abyss or a deep ocean to fall into...She could understand it not!
...

Yet when she gazed at the moon his smiling face was all she saw...

When she lazily strolled in her garden...In the hum of the bees she could but hear his excited voice...

And when she sat down to paint her favourite picture... Her hands always unknowingly drew a pair of dreamy eyes...

She couldn't fathom her restlessness on calm nights and her calm on stormy days...

The world she thought had gone mad...

But little did the naive girl know that it was her world that was being carved irrevocably with...

The shape of love!

The smells of frankincense and myrrh made holy the air...
As white flames with smoke veiled the deity...
The one priest with folded hands and bowed head...
Offered his obeisance to the one he had always thought of as his own... his one Lord God!

Far away in an unknown land...
Another man was counting the beads of his rosary...
Singing hymns in praise of the One...
His protector and nourisher... His one Almighty God!

Yet when night took over the day...And the two men prepared for slumber...
The universal One sang the same cosmic lullaby:
"My children under one roof...!"

In a place beyond heaven and hell...

Upon a pale blue face...

Dressed in a garment of green foliage...

Wearing neckpieces of wild flora and untouched fauna...

Adorned by a crown of diamond stars and ethereal clouds...

Having the mind of mountains...veins of waterfalls and rivers... And the heart of oceans...

Cells of gravels and skin of a holy soil...

Rain kissed body  releasing the divine petrichor and gemstones filled *****...

In such a place I exist...
Cradled in a Mother's lap...
What would I call it if not my eternal home!

Aren't we the same as the ancient trilobite... That no longer exists but still found in fossil memories?

For we may perish upon the face of the earth...

But our essence remains in the soil in the form of tender shapes carved in the rocks of yesterday...

We will be found in the hearts of all who loved us and still love us...
Inspite of our surrender in the ever flowing river of time!

Black rose trapped in a cage of white pages...

Like the white waning moon marooned in a black winter sky!

She was taught to look up at the sky...
To find love in the stars, moons and the galaxies that danced an unknown song...

But...

She taught her heart to look into her own self...
And then did she found her love...
In the universe of her cells...that had been playing  a familiar tune since she had been born to live!

Since the day, the wispy clouds and the blooming flowers had taught me to love...

I had so much longed to cross the bridge that leads to your house...

But now, when I have crossed the bridge to reach you, only a haunted mansion did I behold...

That neither harbours you nor your faking heart!

Turquoise waters cradled by an unknown guardian filled itself with the emerald rainwaters...

By the day, it appeared as an ever expanding expanse of a jewel encrusted crown that belonged to no queen...

But at night,the very same radiated conspiracy with its violet aura and indigo rocks that wove a sinister garment about it...

Reflecting the mysterious heavens in the mirror of its being...

But inspite of the risks...my heart often went drowning into the fathomless bottoms to glimpse the unseen glitters... by the day...

And at night, the heart often chased the dreams dancing an unheard melody in a boat...over the lagoon full of stars...!

How often I had wanted to be a sunflower...

Living in tranquil communities with unity...

Putting up a blooming smile...

Thinking yellow thoughts...

And turning to the sun for positivity and prayer!

And...
On that day...
In that place...

Began the dramatic chain of events...

Which we later learnt to call "Life"...!

There is no real end to anything...
Every thing remains in bits and pieces...
Whether it be the remnants of fallen leaves or the ancient ruins of a castle...
The charcoal still emits a hint of amber... Even when the fire has died down...
The heart still beats the tune of the faint remembrance of a loved one...

Some things always remain in small bites thus...
Maybe in the hope of wanting to be awakened...once again!

A haven of brilliant colours lit up her eyes...
And her ears caught the faint murmur of an ancient song of the flower gods...
Her tender hands felt the papery body of her new friends...
And affectionately did she blow a kiss to their hearts...

She often wondered how her life had filled with such colours of the primroses...
That she had no chance of recalling the dungeon trapped days of her life...

Her world had become one with the blues, reds, yellows, oranges and violets of her new companions...

....

And this was how when he left her...
She never left herself!

The frozen glacier surrendered to the warmth of the day...
The mountain valley smoothed itself to pave the way for a happy journey...
The rocks set the momentum for the tryst to happen in time...
The playful flowers escaped in the carriages of the wind to act as witness...
The sunshine sang holy songs of reunion and the moon acted as a watcher by the night...

Thus the stage was set...
Only for but...
The river to meet the ocean!

She is the sea...
Ever deep and cleansing...
That when people who stand by her shore...
Are driven into contemplation by her lapping waters...
The hearts rejoice the cool breeze which she radiates from the ***** of her sacred land...
She makes the people feel the sea within themselves...
She presents memories in the form of shells for people to take back home her essence...
And sand castles fashioned by tender hands are always embraced by her infinite boundaries...
She and her lover sky,ever entangled in a kiss, plants the seed of love even in spirits of frail lovers...

She is the sea...


And ever thus she remain an unforgettable experience in the life of every soul who visits her sanctuary!

Infinite...
Is the cloudless sky....
Stretching above my head...

Infinite...
Is the bare ground...
That runs beneath my feet...

The only "finite" thing here is...
I and my life!

Fragile and naive...
Had she entered the pupa,
With a fear of the dark in her heart...

Headstrong and wise...
Did she emerge,
With a love of lightning in her soul!

The earthquake wove ripples of terror in the minds of my Pompeii...
Trembling I looked towards the great Vesuvius of my emotions still offering me a hint of the bad days to come...

Yet I chose to belittle... And went on bottling my concern within the four walls of the city of my mind...

So one fine day... When I saw a layman hitting stones to see a spark...

The Vesuvius of my emotions erupted... Without a warn
And engulfed my Pompeii in a great ocean of long suppressed lava leaving only in some places a hint of some hardened souls...

...

Thus... The regret of catching the hint of Vesuvius about the unexpected exodus of my emotions... Only remained a prisoner of the past!

A dark brown swirling expanse of ocean of unknown depth...do my eyes behold,

But to make certain the uncertainty I trap it in the prison of a cup...
I try to see beyond the shape of the watery brew...but with no success...

So when the sinister opaqueness tugged too much at my curious mind... I added sugar to make it seem sweet... But when the sugar melted and disappeared into the abyss... The tugging anxiety returned to me again...

Could a little lemon or some cardamom make it a bit assuring?
I knew not...

Thus, I sat transfixed at the mysterious vapours rising from the depths of the ocean... which I know for sure my heart can never reach!

The haunting sky continued to produce the army of ghost clouds...
Lightning flashed anger...
And the curses of the gods broke the gates of heaven unannounced....!

The cries of hell were heard as a million souls fought to save my holy Land...
An oath seared into their skin to save the glory of their queen...

And I.... I stood watching with flaming eyes...
The threat to my would be orphaned land and sighed at the pieces of the remaining hours of my story...
Helpless I sat tearless... gazing into the dying horizon...

How I had lived as a lioness... How I had consolidated my existence into the minds of my beloved people... How I had taken Egypt to the zenith of wonders... How I had pierced into the souls of women the right to a dignity...

But now as I hold my head high to the grim awaiting in the courtyard... I swear to never let the filthy hands of invaders lay upon me. I call upon the Lord of serpents... To cradle me to the dreams of heaven by caressing it's bite into my skin..

This is a trail I leave to all my people... I am dying for you... O my beloved all...
May you live in peace!. ..
...

Ma..y Egy.... p... t live.... long..!
...!

The end

Thousand miles apart...
Yet the same in essence...

For lo! On a hot summer day, when the dehydrated grasses shed tears of a chill longing...

The sky offers the same with loved tears of consolation and a candid embrace!

But even before I could express myself...
He left the city without trace!

But my heart found him out, and wrote letters...
Singing ancient songs of admiration...!

And he replied with black letters of condemnation aiming to break my heart...

But what the girl inside of me did?
She *bowdlerized his sour letters...
Into letters pouring love and honey and slept with them day and night...!

Was it a budding poet's heart that did so or a lover's heart I could not fathom till this day...!

Someone stirs and moves, inside of the four walls...
Someone young and fragile...!

The wind rustles against the window to peep, but with no avail...
The rain pours wild, knocking the door, but without an answer...!

Once or twice a voice laughs...
Once or twice a voice cries...
And then silence takes over again!

How the mortar radiates forbidden stories for unborn hours of time to carry...
How the shadows collect terrible secrets for the melody of the night to tary...

Something was amiss here... Something unknown...

And one stormy night finally...
The lightning discovered...

"SHE" was the Enigma...!
           ~Venandi

How often at night my soul lays awake in bed...
Reaching out to the hollow emptiness...

How my mind gets numb and the heart beats in horrible pace!

The three things broke me... Yet has kept me alive!
The ticking of the clock...
The childhood trauma...
And His return...!
            ~V.Venandi

The only candle flickered and extinguished...
Shrouding the room in a pitch black garment.

But then... But then...
A hundred fireflies showed up outside of the window giving light!

And the inhabitants of the lonely house learnt hope!
         ~V.Venandi

You entered my life like a breeze...
Gentle and promising...!

But left like a gale...
Brutal and vain...!
         ~V.Venandi

Their eyes had met... Their lips had quivered... Their hearts had skipped their beats a thousand times...
Yet neither the other could move their one foot in the dangerous trail of the times...
He could never let his first love fall... And the heartbroken girl could not hurt herself more...

So they stood frozen in the two opposite shores of the sea of humanity, staring at each other...
Hoping for the other to disappear in some mist...
Like some beautiful memory in the dream of LIFE!
~V.Venandi

And you made me bow my head down in admiration!
The wound of the sword began to heal when your eyes fell on me...
O soul, what potion did your eyes contain?
That made me feel at home...
That touched my soul even before I knew what your hands felt like!
I knew nothing about you yet I knew everything...
It was as if you plundered my universe and stripped me naked to the core...
Remember me always...
I will love you till eternity!
And one day we will meet...
The greatest day of our lives...
For our ignited souls will find solace in each other!
                  ~V.Venandi

In the dark gloomy sky...
The crows and the owls screeched their ugly melodies...
For the world below lay scattered in pieces of fragile humanity...
Once or twice a menacing wind blowed to keep a check on any joy that seemed to arise out of the bottomless pit...
Terrible is the word that described the drama that unfurled in the place between heaven and hell(earth)!

And yet not all was lost...
Inspite of the storm the old man has continued to walk in his limited garden...
Inspite of the gloom, men has gathered in himself the courage to sing the song of praise!

And if that is not enough...
Can't you behold the million scintillating lights that has always been a part of the dark sky... ?Like the twinkling stars!
The hopes of men continue to give light and life to a million unborn souls!

We will find the way...
We will go back to our ancient days before the sun sets forever...
For hope scintillates the sky and I decipher in it the message... that
"This too shall pass"
         ~V.Venandi

Once upon a time...
I had gone down to the sea.
From ancient of times, I had heard that the sea can teach you "love"...
And thus I had gone, anticipating to learn the art of love.

But the sea was a different sight...
Dark waters swirled in phantom waves towards me...
The blissful guardian of the sea called the sun had gone to a slumber... Spreading a veil of darkness over my eyes...
Streaks of thunder flashed across the sky...
And it rained on my hopes that I had long dreamt of !

Drenched in the rain and in invisible tears,
I realized the depth of love...
For love is but the depth of the sea and I, but a shallow soul...!My heart had but no courage to approach the trench that love was...
And thus my soul began to fear the sea... N sadly, love too!
               ~V.Venandi

What do you ponder, O moon?
Do you wonder if I too have my dark side...!
What do you smell, O moon?
Do you catch the fragrance of death that lingers my side every moment...!
What do you hear, O moon?
Do you hear the agony and screamings of an invisible broken heart...!
What do you feel, O moon?
Do you ever touch my bed at night hoping to lessen my loneliness?
O ,dear moon, you may be seven seas apart,
But you and I are one in essence and loneliness...
For every second of our lives we live to die and die to live!
              ~V.Venandi

Ambrosia!
Greatness lies latent in wisdom...
The wisdom which foretells that ambrosia is but a mirage which disappears upon the verge of discovery!
The trail for the invisible is like a mist that can be felt on the skin but never embraced by your heart...
For ambrosia is that which hides in every shadow of the grasslands... And which breaks open in rocks a world of tomorrow...!
Ambrosia is poured in droplets to which the peacock dances in thanksgiving...
The wind spills ambrosia into the ***** of nature... Spreading fragrance in eternal directions...
The sun of the morning and the moon of the night dances to the tunes of ambrosia...!
The shaky hands of the old man and in the sprinting hands of the young, does ambrosia weave fables of a forgotten history... and an uncertain mystery.
Why do you then seek for it?
The thing that you seek is your one thought away...
Unlock the wisdom that gurgles in forbidden caverns of the cave of your life...
Seek that wisdom...
For in the very act of seeking that...
You would have found Ambrosia!
            ~V.Venandi