Shiva’s silence?
(Penned post-Uttarakhand Disaster)
noon image
futility of a
clinging sun
on the breast of a
shamed, helpless sky
the exquisite
architecture
of the Kedarnath
Shrine
tracing centuries of
mythology
warms to yellow
yet we hear no echo
that recalls
rhythms of life
Shiva , the bestower
of longevity
trapped the
descending Ganges in his hair
absorbing her fall
yet today, he thrust
the Mandakini down
from the high trapeze
of ruthless glaciers
washing villages off
the map
dragging scarlet
remains
of annihilated beings
that belong to the
river now
Shiva played the
conventional destroyer
oblivious to the
difference between
beautiful and ugly
between man and ghost
between life and
death
he watched the tandav
of nature
as the debris at the
temple threshold
gathered heaps of
bones, bodies and
vestiges of life
are these merely
cultural delusions
for Shiva the supreme
hermit?
a vertiginous night
descends
sad lights on the
mountain scape
rise out of blackened
waters
the cadence of
darkness is mine alone today
i sit to write the countless forgotten names
in my remembrance
diary
uncertain thoughts
ask of the
lone survivor---the
shiv-linga*
why is life so short
why is death so long?
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