On The Edge Poem by p.k.n. panicker

Stand on the edge
on a precipice
on the mountain top
just a step away from the drop
into the gorge in front;

Or is it not a gorge?
Imagination
of a confused mind
filled with fear and fright
of an undefined future.

How did I climb?
Up the ladder
or was it a ramp, no rungs,
only a gradual progression
through un-strikingly simple events?
Nothing too serious to mention, nothing too
astounding to excite.

As I took each step forward
step by step, hesitantly
he wrapped me within his arms,
reassured, ‘everything is fine,
I need have fears none,
that he will be with me always, forever, '.
He the optimist gently pushed me
to take the plunge.

My mind wavers,
he stands apart,
a little distanced in the eyes of my parents,
a step below in social status,
in the economically affluent life-styles,
a step ahead in orthodoxy;
If I take the plunge
will I get trapped in the ravines below
like a loved and protected bird in the cage
- in a cage of oriental circles
of family ties and webs?

Upon my neck I feel his breath,
the warmth of his love
and I see his charming smile,
hear his words,
‘trust my words, darling,
I won't let you fall,
No, not into the ravines down below
to be trapped
in that world of unknown dimensions.'

I am a little confused;
Am I walking away from my parents
who gave me love and affection,
a life of comfort and strength
to stand upright on my own?
A sense of guilt, a sense of remorse
but the life ahead
beacons me to take a decision.

A drop of tear down my cheek;
My wavery mind murmers,
‘Let's move away from here,
I like my feet
when they are on stable ground.
Even as you are by my side
I do not wish that we die so young.'

He swipes away the tear drop.
And he says,
‘Who my darling said
that by taking the plunge we shall fall?
No, We shall not fall
rather, we shall fly together.'

And we fly together; together forever!


Written after reading a poem titled ‘Standing On The Edge' by.........published in, ‘Passions in Poetry' - under the name ‘One among many'.