Suffocation Poem by Ravi Panamanna

Deep in the throat, there is a hook,
Something lurking, the truth, suffocating.
The values we carry we swallow,
A mask we wear before the world and move.

Within us, our values collide and sink,
The truth of the world we often miss.
May be the world is right, we are not,
Times are different, values too, I agree.

Yet, within a frame I discern a voice
Common to all, ageless and eternal-
The fountains of the heart, those flavors,
Haven't we lost them in the desert of life?

Why wear a mask and sink within, suffocating?
Is our truth so needle prick to the world?
The truth is, we expect a retaliation,
A challenge which we cannot stand.

Our language of deliverance, do we count?
Can we deliver truth in the listener's language?
While dealing with different levels,
We need different expressions for the same truth-
The world is heterogeneous, it needs different scales.

06th December 2017