No wonder the steps are stone
pink, dark, wet, cold and warm
but stone....
The river flows fast
really fast
waves up and down
billowing one after the other
in quick succession
racing with each other
to reach the undecided destination
They wet the stone
splash over it
lovingly...
The stone embraces them
just for a moment
they slow down during this embrace
and envelop over the stone
wetting it , getting it ...
and then
they just leave...
The stone remains wet
for a while
yearning for the lost embrace
for the wet kiss
and for the cold comfort ...
Then another wave comes
billowing , rolling , flowing
in it's own , new way
as if to rest here for a while...
but this one came again
not to stay ...
just for that quick embrace
the wet kiss ritual
and a low departure...
The stone is eager again
for the kiss , for the embrace
and for the cold comfort
not thinking
that this one
will pass on too...
The stone lay there
after a quite farewell
still with controlled emotions
being wet and cold
embracing all those waves
that come....
Waving all those
who don't keep their promise
and pass by
teasing the stone...
racing towards
the destination
they don't yet know....
Now i know why the steps are stone...
they have to be there for ever
to welcome all those
who are destined to go away
to welcome all those
who never keep their promise ...
The stone is still pink
dark , wet , cold and warm..
welcoming the sparkle...
The sparkle..
which is going to vanish
the next moment...
The sparkle ...
which will be missed
for eternity...
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OMG!! Beautiful photographs and amazing words... and both embraced so smoothly!!
ReplyDeleteLoved the green, pink and the sparkle in the photographs!
Simply WOW............the sparkles are words of the river ..... as if the river is talking to you...
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with IHM!
ReplyDeleteवाह - बहुत सुंदर - प्रशंसनीय प्रस्तुति
ReplyDeleteWOWO beautiful and the pictures look great .. beautiful words .. nice and simple .. even i could understand ..
ReplyDeletethank you ..
Bikram's
@ Bikram ... you know what's funny ?
ReplyDeleteEven you couldn't understand what it is :)
Oh God! Sangeeta, this is marvelous it has captured the pain and the solitude beautifuly. I specially liked the lines
ReplyDelete'The stone lay there
after a quite farewell
still with controlled emotions
being wet and cold
lovely and meloncholic..
@ Rekha...yes these lines were the essence for me ... and the real feeling while sitting on the steps of the ganges in haridwar was actually this.
ReplyDeleteYou got it right.
And finally the stone echoes the words of William Blake….
ReplyDeleteHe who binds himself to a joy doth the winged life destroy
but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity’s sunrise.
Beautifully written Sangeeta.
Meet your newest follower.
Love and blessings,
~ Debra
I think you have compiled the essence of birth, death and karma, in your simple poem, I find a touch of Ruskin in it.Lovely as usual
ReplyDeleteThanks Debra and welcome to Homealone !!
ReplyDeleteI am humbled by this great comparison , these lines were just a strong feeling which overwhelmed me and spilled through.
@ Nirupama...I idolize Ruskin and i see nature as the common thread and only that :)
...Thank you for the generous complement.
Beautiful pictures and beautiful comentary. Thanks for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteI can hear the water gently lapping at those stones. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteVery very nice expressions wordings and pictures....
ReplyDeleteWOW !
Wow..The pictures are great and the words are soulful.. and to think that i have missed this post all this while!!!
ReplyDeleteThis post left me thinking for a long time about the stones, the river and the pain that both of them experience in the encounter because of the inevitability of their seperation. Maybe the stone cannot see from where does the river comes and and why can't it stay with the stone for ever. From our perspective,because of our knowlede about the entire course of the river, we can see that it is not possible for the river to stop moving because if it does, it will stop being a river. The river and the stone meet only because of the fact that river MOVES. And because it moves, it has to leave. This reminded me of a poem you wrote about the river a few months back in which you had so beautifully described how the river is compelled to keep moving.By writing both these poems you have indeed completed the entire canvas of life. we find that in our interactions with others, sometimes we are the river and at other times we are the stone.
Yes Amrita ...you summed it up and i agree we are the stone sometimes and the river some other times...
ReplyDeleteThis time, seeing the hurrying waves of ganges in Haridwar I felt like something is getting away from me , leaving me behind . I wrote this in my diary sitting right there on the steps.
Thanks for this interpretation , i don't mind late visitors when the interpretations are like this.
Grave and beautiful stone
ReplyDeletethe meandering river hones
One is all weight and stability
The other sparkle and flow
Together they make each other Glow.
Loved your lines Varsha....welcome to homealone :)
ReplyDeletelovely, Sangeeta, but this is not Hindi,is it?
ReplyDeleteThanks Abha..Would send you the link to the Hindi one too :-)
DeleteCame here from the Language Place blog carnival. Beautiful imagery of the static and the mobile. One does not exist without the other to complement it. And Ganga has the strangest and the most spiritual of effects on a person sitting on her banks.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the steady development in this piece, particularly liking the build towards "to welcome all those / who never keep their promise..." and the following denoument of the final verse.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in the >Language>Place blog carnival. I would not have found you without it.