Tempest of time (poems)

Tempest of time (poems)

-Kondapalli Niharini

Translated by Elanaaga

34. Mask of Mind

How many boats of experience,
how many sails of feelings to catch
the limitless sea of heart,
to go on a voyage within ourselves!
To embrace thought,
to learn life’s lingo as well!
Trying to drink the fallen gloom,
shining full moon days,
threads have usurped life.
To tie all these this unknown life
plays hide-and-seek!
A mirror doesn’t show new lies.
Removing the blanket of dreams,
a journey towards dawn’s wisdom….
Unending it is.
Chappals that don’t suit feet
kill the enjoyment of softness.
Hardness keepsmocking.
Yet the walk stops not.
Unending it is.

The wind tells countless secrets,
trees talk in the middle with brislings.
The path that reached the terminus
stalls us, takes a deep breath.
While wishing for a river nearby,
I hear a question:
“How many hills have you ascended?”
I steady myself, want to continue the walk.
The walk is a rectangle; I pour it into myself.
Until reaching the edges of the silent night,
unable to carry the weight of the morning,
into the shattered slumber,
not seeing any pictures of light,
covering myself in a sheet,
on the hard soil….

Published in Sopathi, Nava Telangana paper, December 2020

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(To be continued-)