Saturday, February 6, 2010

Hide and Seek

The cold throne of the deposed king
lies abandoned as a protected monument.
And at its foot is the dome of the court hall
half surviving, like the stories it witnessed.
On the other side, defaced figurines greet
an empty space between them, while the ornate
pillars and beams rest on each other
like the dead of an epic battle.
The Gods' faces look eaten away by a cannibal
and like the creation, are in a state of disrepair.
There are surviving walls of a temple or a palace
and on them a graffiti about forgotten love
sketched as an attempt to piggyback immortality.

My mind tries to reconstruct the grandeur
while history plays one of its ancient games
Hide and Seek, to mourn in solitude.
I am absorbed in the moist sorrows
written on the walls while a man with three eyes
(One hanging around his neck)
interrupts to say how good I looked
beside these ruins and I let him
before I am lost in them.

I can see a girl turned to the wall
and counting time, for me to hide in the world
before she seeks me like this.

(My tribute to all those poets who walked those ruins of Kakatiya grandeur in Warangal and empathized with the stories they contained)

4 comments:

BP said...

Whew! Just Whew! May be I connected with it a lot more for its proximity and familiarity. However, the idea(s) you tried to get across didn't miss me.


and like the creation, are in a state of disrepair.


and on them a graffiti about forgotten love
sketched as an attempt to piggyback immortality.


Those two lines were really good.

And the ending was deeply philosophical:

I can see a girl turned to the wall
and counting time, for me to hide in the world
before she seeks me like this.


Coincidentally, I was reminded of the comment that you left at my blog earlier: 'ఈ శిధిలాలలో చిరంజీవి వైనావయా'
Its so appropriate in this context. You might just be a ruin by the time she seeks you, but after that aren't you forever?

Trinath Gaduparthi said...

@Praveen

Thank you.Thank you.

Yes, the phrase "ఈ శిధిలాలలో చిరంజీవి వైనావయా" is very apt. More so for me because it was sung by Ghantasala with so much anguish that I am moved at the very opening of the song. Every time, I think " Just those two lines. Just those two. I don't care about the rest"

Ruins are in a constant battle with time. Who wins would be forever, isn't it? I don't know.

A small confession: The maximum thinking went into the line "The Gods' faces look eaten away by a cannibal" ; thinking whether to write or not that in that way!

Thanks for your critical reading.

Unknown said...

Hide and Seek is a good one. Thanks for your sharing

Trinath Gaduparthi said...

@Bobgabon

Thanks!