Gazing--Close and Far

Gazing...close and far


Here on the heath I knew only two secrets
that this earth of mine sways between
the light of the day and sleep
and I have lost the language of both.
The primeval knowing is lost
in the school of thought they called Reason.
I tried to grasp the alien language
and found when it was late
that I had lost mine own.
My worst nightmare is that I am standing
at the end of the escalators
in the crowded malls
and the wilderness of airports
not able to decide
which moment is the right one
to step on and step off
and that they have removed all the steps and the stairs.
Love draws me near and pain repels
and I have named them beauty and ugliness.
and the rest of the journey is a search
for a path away from both.
Is this hedonism the cause of my fall,my nemesis, I do not know.
I long to reach that valley of simple truths of love and peace
where love was love and peace was peace
and the rest was all a drunkenness.
My secret lies buried there
and I have lost the way.
I know the key lies somewhere there
and if I remove the overgrowth
I may find it still there.
My valley, my homeland beckons me.
Here from the island
I can do nothing but gaze,
surrounded by oceans all around
and sea-gulls circling overhead.

Sushama Karnik