Discord Or Wall Of Silence Poem by anujan raja

DISCORD or THE WALL OF SILENCE


It's a bit cold today, isn't it,
He said shivering a little.
No, she replied,
Much colder it was this day last year.
- - A wall of silence between them.


Those pigeons, how pretty they are, he said
Cute, aren't they?
No, I don't think so, she replied,
They look very shabby from here
And filthy too,
With their droppings everywhere.
- - The wall of silence.

Aah, forgot to tell you,
We're going home this week-end
To my ancestral home
For this year's Sarpa pooja*
He reminded her.
You and your sarpa pooja, she spat out.
We don't live in neo-lithic time
Serpents, loathsome critters,
Venomous, dangerous, slimy and slithery,
Revulsion ruined her comely face,
Words, strong words vibrated on her lips
Buzzed like angry bees.
- - Again silence,
Tangible like a brick wall.

Thrice is enough, he mused.
Now words took form on his lips
Eager, ready to sail out
On waves of sound,
Died out the next moment
Silent birth and death of
Emotions and thoughts

Unconveyed from one heart to another
From one mind to another.
- - - - - - - -
*Traditional worship of snake deities performed in ancestral homes in Kerala, India