A Drop of Ink- A poem by Mahendra Gonsalkorale

A drop of ink

Mahendra “Speedy” Gonsalkorale 

I am a drop of ink
one of many
trapped in a cylindrical barrel, a pen
my escape is manipulated
by a dextrous Sapiens hand
which guides my liberation
in successive dots to a parchment
merging into a meandering trail
that confers a meaning
a message
an edict
a story
an instruction
to the eye-equipped beholder
trained to transform visual images
to information and meaning

I spend a lot of my life
inseparable from my fellow drops
on that dot laden paper
drying,
dying
in our manuscript tomb
hidden and mostly forgotten
in a library of dead scrolls

And then a glimmer of hope
when the room is lit
by solar power during day time
and harnessed stored power at night
by a curious information seeker,
eyes lit with hope and anticipation
visiting my abode, my grave
and locates my parchment, the book

Satisfied with knowledge gained
through a visuo-cerebral transaction
whereby the meaning conferred
by the trail of our collective dots
on the parchment, is understood,
he leaves,

and I am alone again
bound within a book
trapped forever,

or so I think
Or, maybe not
for The Curious never die
and where there is curiosity
there is hope

which hopefully is not hopeless
and I can still live in hope

for another day, another time
lying still

Until….