I’ve seen all
I’ve heard all
I’ve absorbed all
Routine dawns fading into
Ruthless dusks into
Ravaging nights…
Haven’t I heard
Nights wailing like
An abandoned infant
At the street end?
Haven’t I felt
The leprous skin
Of the night—
Ugly and haunting?
Haven’t I heard
The palpitating nights
Breaking into an
Uncontrollable sweat?
Haven’t I seen
Nights showing defiance
In reluctant surrender
And cold embraces?
Haven’t I seen
Nights raise in rebellion
Against an unwilling body
And disinclined mind?
Haven’t I absorbed
Nights of callousness
Stomping me under
Hitler’s heavy boots?
I simply looked in disinterestedness
As night’s finger lifted with the pointedness
Of a cartographer to draw new lines of longitude
and latitude on the terrain of my skin-scape
I simply looked in passivity
As nights wrapped me in a blanket of suspicion
And experimented with my emotional
And bodily contours…
Haven’t I seen the ugly manifestations of
Dissatisfaction and jealous
And the elsewhere desires
Satiated through erotic zones?
This too I have seen:
Stark daylight mocking me
With its twisted lip
No longer, I said
No more, I warned
Enough, I pronounced
Of this seemingly unending
Lonesome voyage through the dark seas
And that too have I seen...
13mar2010
03.40hrs
I had to dive deep into this poem a couple of times in order to derive my interpretation. Reading it is like exploring new horizons. Has the potential to be a classic. Congratulations.!
The intensity of this poem is wonderful, Indira. You have discovered a new dimension of your poetic voyage. Thanks for sharing. Regards Naseer
I’ve seen all I’ve heard all I’ve absorbed all One of your best---a glass of GERMAN SCHANK for your voyage....
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Every once in a while, a poet brings to the reader a picture of intoxicating intensity in the metaphors and imagery protrayed in a poem. This poem stands out in this atmosphere without a doubt. The opening stanza actually sets the tone for the poem: I’ve seen all I’ve heard all I’ve absorbed all and in the end...'enough' undelines the personification with intense emtoions. Thank you for sharing. Blessings. Leonard