The Escalator
I was half dreaming
Standing still but moving
I was going down
Others by the side coming up
Many stood still
Others pushing past me
In a hurry
Where were their thoughts
Mine was in a haze
Seeing but not observing
Then I saw her
In the distance looking up
In the distance coming up slowly
A figure in a million
Head tossed back carelessly
A sensuous but sad face
She is now almost at my level
Will she recognise me
My throat went dry
My heart was beating fast
She looked at me and caught my eye
Just a faint smile, a twitch
I looked back as she went up
She was looking at me
A smile crossed her face
I went limp and flushed
Nearly fell off as I reached the end
She remembered me!
She remembered me!
She remembered me!
What a beauty she is;never too late to meet her.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of my 'misspent' youth living in a dreamworld. But then life is but a dream!!
ReplyDeleteYes Nihal, And merrily merrily we go !
DeleteND, Do you remember the song "I am living in a dream world" by Desmond Kelly? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO_y_N35rdE
DeleteMahen
DeleteOf course I remember that so well. One of my school pals from Australia sent me a video clip of it few months ago with several of his other favourites including some baila
The way he sings it he imparts a definite SL Burgher feel to it. This is not a criticism but has a unique homely quality easily recognisable with Jetliners and Sam the Man too
DeleteMahen, fine descriptive free verse which gives one the picture even if it had no title! The snapshot is just right too.
ReplyDeleteA great piece - thank you.
You are indeed a man of many talents !
Thanks Rohini. I do love descriptive free verse, or painting pictures with words. I also at times, try to give the impression of something deeper ("standing still but moving", "seeing but not observing") leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions on what I a thinking. If at the end of the poem, the reader "saw" what was in my mind, I feel I have achieved my objective. If i left them podering a bit more on "are there hidden messages?", I have done better! Thanks for reading and commenting and I look forward to a contribution from you soon - we haven't forgotten your "Ode to the moon"!
ReplyDeleteMahen, I think you have projected your thoughts very effectively to the reader in this poem and that is the beauty of it.
ReplyDeleteI loved “standing still but moving” and “seeing but not observing”.
There are always profound thoughts behind these contrasting descriptions-
akin to “The sound of silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. I give this as an example as I have recently listened to it.
You’d have noticed this quite often in prose as well as in poetry which somehow appeals to me.
“Are there hidden messages?” is something I must keep in mind and work on - thank you for the education.
.
Mahen , getting back to your comment on “Ode to the moon” it was really your divine piece of music which, if one listens to with eyes closed transports you
ReplyDeleteto another world!
Mahen, two further examples of fine contrasts that come to mind are the opening lines of “The Tale of two cities”, and the “ Prayer for Peace “ by
ReplyDeleteSt. Francis of Assisi both of which you’d be familiar with - both very beautiful.
and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Roshini - " where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy"....etc and from Tale of t wo cities ""It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness," etc etc.
ReplyDeleteYou might approve my past poem of contradictions which goes like this:- Title- Our Strange World.
The blind can hear
And the deaf can see
Thieves can prosper
While the virtuous suffer
Short people reach heights
While the tall sink low
The beautiful appear despondent
While the unattractive look radiant
The lame could go far
While the able stagnate
None would go wrong
Where hope’s still strong
A fine poem with a message . Thank you Mahen .
DeleteIt also amused me-
“Short people reach heights” - There are some short who won’t reach a height even with a ladder ! Just laughing at myself !!
I enjoyed it . Thank you
This is Zita. What a lovely discussion on Mahendra's poem which touched many hearts. I am delighted to see Mahendra's poetic talents back in action. You are describing an instant, practically, but it holds heart stopping drama. Thanks for letting us have a peek into a moment in time which gives our imagination a whole story to unravel. Zita
ReplyDeleteThanks Zita. I love it when readers try to interpret my poems and search for hidden meanings! This often happens when I read reviews and critiques of poems and music and fascinating meanings are extracted. This is the beauty of music and poetry and the more room we leave for this kind of speculation, the greater the enjoyment. After all, language is symbolism and can never be precise. Thanks for your generous comment.
DeleteMahen, this is beautiful. Taken literally, it is rather amusing, because I can picture being distracted on an escalator and almost falling off. I see this as an allegory of life; chance encounters that may have led to something more meaningful, except that you are heading one way, and the person or the opportunity is heading in the opposite direction. How does one push the button to stop the escalator? Oh, and two of my favorite lines from the "Sound of Silence: People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening"
ReplyDeleteLet us not be that way...
Keep on writing these enigmatic poems, Mahen. (Zita has expressed it well.)
Hi to you Srianee! I write different types of poetry but one model I love is to try and make the reader visualise the scene I am referring to. I write more thought provoking ones too (such as the one at the end of my comment), but I do love painting with words.
DeleteThe Mystery of Life and Death
So much to go through,
so much to endure,
so much to learn,
so much to savour,
so much to admire,
so much to suffer,
so much to build
so much to love
And then
at one poignant moment,
which we call death,
it is all gone!
Or is it?
I don't believe it is "all gone," but do I know for certain? I will find out some day, but not too soon I hope. Meanwhile, I'm learning, admiring, savouring ... Thanks for this.
DeleteNow for a serious and practical question: have you submitted your poems for publication anywhere? Magazines? Poetry competitions? They should be enjoyed by a wider audience than the readers of this Blog!
Since you ask Srianee, I have not published them as such but I contribute to an European Union inspired poetry site called eMultipoetry under the name Mahengonsal. It is an open forum and people from many EU countries contribute and if there are multilinguals amons them, translations of the original is done. I have Polish connections (through the European Parkinson's Disease Association, of which I used to be a Board member). The website is http://www.emultipoetry.eu/en/main/
Deleteif you want to have a look. If you type mahengonsal in the search box, you can see my poems.
I shall check this out when I have time. Keep writing, Mahen!
DeleteCorrect title of the S & G song is "Sounds of Silence."
ReplyDeleteSorry Sriani. Thank you.
DeleteNo problem. I used the singular too, before I decided to check it out.
DeleteZita and Srianee have hit on the deeper meaning of Mahen’s poem which I ‘missed’ ? somewhat , getting caught up with technicalities !
ReplyDeleteNow I think I can also fully grasp Nihal’s brief comment earlier on.
So nice to have my thoughts clarified by your comments - Thankyou
Rohini - The meaning lies within the reader, you are never wrong! And the long and short of it is also that although you are "short" in stature, you are not "short" of what really matters!
DeletePunning can be such fun ! Thanks Mahen
DeleteMahen, It intrigues me as to how you managed to get that shot .
ReplyDeleteRohini, I search the web for Royalty Free images (using google with a keyword) and when I find something suitable, I download it and using a photoshop-like application, I modify it. I crop it to what I want to retain and then apply some filters and special effects. That is my "secret" bared!
DeleteMahen, Thank you for taking the trouble and time to explain the procedure in such detail. Of course I will never figure the “secret” out as it is double-Dutch/ Greek to me ! You are a genius!
DeletePosted on behalf of Dhushyanthi Vedavanam,
ReplyDeleteDear Mahendra,
I am seated on the sofa and reading your poem over and over again. It is a great poem which conveys a lot to the reader. It is so thought provoking in the sense - could it be a dream or could it be real - two friends meeting by chance after a long time and their eyes show their inner feelings and they part? I congratulate you for your immense talent in putting pen to paper in such a professional way. Very inspirational.
I apologise I am not able to get into the blog to post my comment.
Kind Regards
Dhushyanthi