But You Never Ask Me

If you ask me to sing

I'll pour out my heart

a sea full of melodies

will wash your feet in wavy art!

               But you never ask me.

 

If you ask me to pray

bells of all temples would

chime to lull god's sleep

in Swings Way

silence will reign deep.

               But you never ask me.

 

If you ask me to cry

I'll raise tempests wild

recreate deluge where

Noha's arc will forever lie.

               But you never ask me.

 

And if you ask me to die

I'll make all births rot

in the chambers of womb

for their living tomb

to save the birth of my love.

              But you never ask me.

Sabita Sahu

UNDOING

How can life be shared!

If one is full in mind and body

the unseen soul too covers the fullness

man is a whole with many dimensions

but the many are one, the one whole.

The shadow is never divided

nor does it merge in another

the digital shades never converge 

distant words never make melody.

I never wish to claim any share

for, the share I need a whole.

.

The heart that is empty stays empty

another fullness cannot fill it up 

unless the other heart desires for it.

Can I undo, unwrite, unwipe

the written letters of my soul!

No, that's anti-nature, unwholesome

the best is to stay empty

and wither away before the winter 

buries it under the snow

of unrequited memory.

Sabita Sahu

DRAUPADI--XVI

 

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty's 

DRAUPADI - XVI

Krishna returned the next morning

to a grand send off with gifts galore

swallowing her half formed words in silence,

Krishna the all knowing placed his hands

on Draupadi's shoulder seriously smiling

Hey Sakhi, don't make my parting grim

smile your farewell and wish me success

my mission ahead is a tight rope walk

I need my Sakhi's love to wade through

the fateful slushy territory with valour:

Draupadi relaxed a smile and whispered

no thorn will sear your skin nor failure

will deter you from your destined vision

Dear Sakha just remember, there is your

alluring Sakhi strewing jasmine buds all the way

and worshipping your name in all her orisons.

 

The parting was joyous and clamorous

Krishna's entourage left pleased and happy

she stood at her gates till the distant dust

settled in her heart to a blank silence.

 

Back in her lonely chamber she brooded,

Swayambara! Why and what for? Is marriage

such an urgent need?   For whom the ceremony,

If Swayambara is for me, I must choose

my life's co-journeyer, a man of honour,

valour, witty decoder of life's puzzles,

not simply a heroic archer, not a revenger

to satisfy my father's obsessive pride!

If I am to choose why should there be a test?

That too an Archery test of military skill,

Why not I test the Princes and assess

their nobility, grace, honour and love,

It's Love I need in life to overcome.

All worldly vicissitudes and complexities:

Am I not helpless being the king's daughter,

I am Princess for all, beautiful and wise

but am I a woman to chose my life

to live displaying my dream vision?

Her undulating heart chocked in uncertainty

she closed her eyes and moved inwards.

 

My Erratic Clock

The clock in me is erratic

often the alarm goes

at ungodly hours

shaking me to find

the moonless night

whispering horror horror

It stalks my moods

but I am helpless.

 

My schedules go awry

when I sit determined

to read the new book

whistle comes from the street

to hand over the garbage bin.

When I sing in joy

how tuneless it may be

my foot dashes against

my study table and

I shout for  volini gel.

 

At times telephonic command comes

asks me to attend the meeting

I say yes and smile within

I am tilling the wasteland

of my life watering with tears

which defy self control.

 

How to set my clock

it ticks, stops goes tik - tik

I can't throw it away

nor can  I thank it

for making my dull routine

clamorous, vociferous

with uninvited logos.

 

 Sabita Sahu

DRAUPADI - XV

 

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty's 

DRAUPADI - XV

Thank you Draupadi said Vasudev

while guards and others led by Alpana

receded beyond sight leaving Draupadi

and Krishna for a divine moment

of eye contact in uncoded silence

only the elements knew

what they breathed into each other.

 

O Fair Fireborn  I felt your fiery

message in your gift,

I hope your heart was in its own place

when you thought of the gift.

The lotus blooming petal feathers

to couch a lifetime of love!

 

Krishna looked deep in the eyes of Draupadi,

what role do you propose to play in history?

A bland onlooker of my play

or a  protagonist of your own world

firewalking to ambrosiac essence

leading and being led to grasp

may be time's sprouts of fresh

challenges to show you are one

in body mind and soul?

My dear Draupadi, you are on this earth

far from your lost memories of Fire and Ice,

what do you think of our men and soil

O daughter of fire, speak up, your smile

intrigues me and rolls me beyond the elements!

Draupadi ventured,   do I  have  any role or

do I float in the current in helpless rage?

 

Yes, you have a role, you child of destiny

you will cause a river of blood and swim

to rediscover Dharma

on the shore of a new Aryabarta,

I have settled the issue of your marriage

with your father king Drupad, he wants

a true revenge hero as your life mate

and the best archer of the world shall be

your father's son-in-law through  a test

in a grand Swayanbar!

              If a fool wins the test

what lifemate will he make, smirked Draupadi.

 

Wait and see dear hold your horses

your life will be stormy yet fulfilling

you are here on earth to change humanity.

I shall be your Sakha

and you my Sakhi till the ice

burns in fury to conceive

new seeds of creation.

Rain - Eyes

 

 

When I watch the rain

standing on the balcony

I feel a feast for the parched  earth

slushing and churning the feelings

of soil and turn into pulp.

 

Rain comes with bands

its fireworks strike terror,

But when my tears roll down

no  thunder strikes

and none matches my tears

my silence hides the sobs

my sorrow is not for display.

 

I don't know why I cry

when the clouds seize the sky

and rain falls with trumpets in fury

I now realize that the sky is weeping

to let me wash my face and feel fresh

to show my lightning face  and

the spark of my eyes to the world

and put a full stop to the source of tears.

Sabita Sahu

DRAUPADI XIV

  

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty's 

DRAUPADI - XIV

Draupadi waited for Vasudev

her choice of the mango grove

a surprise to the security guards

but the clearing in the grove

the afternoon sun, the breeze

the raw fragrance of the saplings

the strange coos of homing birds

all excited the radiant Draupadi

dressed tastefully in bosom thrusting

Choli and flowing Ghagra in scarlet:

She couldn't control her animation

could not gauge her restive obsession.

 

Is she in love with the great cowboy?

She paused to wonder all abashed

Draupadi admitted to herself, Yes

perhaps it is love, when the mind

forsakes the known searching for

the unknown contours of life beyond

formal relations and normal emotions

since I heard about his visit

a few chords in my heart strummed

an exotic note of tenderness -

then Alpana excitedly reminisced.

 

The exploits of his early childhood

his non- mortal valour and the wondrous flute

charming men women and animals

for his love the Gopikas defied all rules,

ignored all norms

and surrendered their assets

in orgies  of unearthly passions.

on  the Yamuna banks and Tamal forest

the super maiden Radha made him

play the lover, hero and mighty saviour

of Mathura and the cherished cultural values.

My defiant amour aroused

a passion to call him mine

 

But what will I tell him and

how to begin and how to confess -

Draupadi's mind and heart lost the sound

of footsteps of guards and guides

that fell on the nervous inwardness of Draupadi

she stood with throbbing reverence with

Alapna behind holding the gifs for Krishna.

 

The smile of Krishna greened the grove

 the air came closer to fan his firm body

Draupadi greeted the Man of Men, bowing

rising, smiling, beaming all at once and

presented a Peacock Plume on Lotus,

all the gems of the world composed its splendour

a work of undying Art in fiery lustre:

 Krishna smiled his pleasure and said, Wah!

Such a beautiful gift, a curious treasure

I never saw nor will  I see hereafter.