Strive To Revive After Every Fall (Somnathpur, Gujarat, India) Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

We were winging our way
on the coast of Gujarat from the east to west.
Hardly had we slept a wink
than we stepped on the blood-stained soil
of Somnathpur past midnight.
Some stray dogs woofed at our friend, Baskaran
whose suitcase-wheels were making
the rumbling noise of a bullock-cart of the past.

Seeing the choppy waters of the Arabian Sea
at the back of the temple-wall,
we were wide-eyed in surprise.
and we were comforted by a spanking breeze.
Our votive offerings were some coins
but God would bless us all as we were from the far south.
Some marauder of a jungle tribe from a far off hills
had looted the gold of the temple
umpteen times putting the people to swords.
He is no more but the ill-will he created remains
and it is inherited by the descendents, thanks to History.

We surveyed the havoc wrought
in northern Gujarat by the quakes.
But the Somnath in the South stands tall
amidst fatal falls of towering skyscrapers.
Strive to revive in life and thrive again
though hit by misfortunes countless.
That is what people feel seeing the salty winds
peel the stony leaves off the rocky walls.
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