There have been times
I have wished myself
A rounded smooth pebble
In the palms of beloved
Curio seeker
Safe harbor at last
From wash and wear
Of roughest ocean
And yet its touch
Has moulded
Me in gentleness.
My contours soft and undulating
dapples of demurely concealed
Distress
The stormy rants
Of rites of passage
And my initiation into
Living
While steadily drowning
Doggedly crowning the crests
Of incessant waves
Till bullied into submission
I was rolled like dice
Discarded upon the beach
Of bedlam
For a madman's moist caress.
Here and now
I must discard my oceanic lore
The store of wisdom
Incalculable
To sit upon a shelf
Forever forgotten
Grateful for oblivion's
Settled down.
Dusk sets
On my smooth
Aquamarine lights
Bathing in
Sober sherbets of pink
And cloudy reds
In the skylight of my
Narrow room
The last patch
Of freedom's blue
Fades
Black motifs
Of endless night
Will do for me
Now, nicely.
I await the eventuality
Of disintegration
Dust inspired
To dust returned.
(c) Amrita Valan 2017
