Saturday, July 26, 2008

Victims of an inferno maze

The flowers in the vase were still ruby red;
the leaves and thorns still undead.
A beautiful thing it may have seemed,
if it weren’t for the silence ahead.

Paintings on the wall did, some story, say
of old country sides, cows, fields and plenty hay.
A beautiful thing it may have seemed,
had someone cared to see and stay.

A lovely evening festooned the sky.
Hues unknown streaked up high.
A beautiful thing it may have seemed,
but they, beneath, couldn’t see why.

Busy at plenty them puppets were.
Sad faces, tears and pristine black fur.
A dreadful thing it is, for them.
The loss of someone as pure as her.

She was, but ten, such a young soul!
Still, was death right? Even for one old?
A dreadful thing it is, for them.
Them, standing out in the night so cold.

A fire, a blast, few seconds does it last.
It rips and kills and leaves all aghast.
A dreadful thing it is for them,
who live in the shadows the dead cast.

They, who cried, did they not know?
Who killed her, and what be they sow?
A dreadful thing it is, for them
In a cruel world, how do children grow?

But to do a thing, would they dare?
To stop all terror, did they care?
A dreadful thing it is, for them,
Yet what do they do but to stand and stare.

We cry, we mourn, we grieve, we pain.
We do, not a thing and all is in vain.
A dreadful thing it may have seemed.
But who gave a thought? Who was left so sane?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey divya, so nice words as usual... liked the title as well


Paintings on the wall did, some story, say
of old country sides, cows, fields and plenty hay.
A beautiful thing it may have seemed,
had someone cared to see and stay


these lines i liked a lot, reminded me of an old poem called leisure..
but ur words are of a different view... emotions do pour out of each and every word...

liked it, liked it a lot...

cherubic_chipmunk said...

@Vinay : dude,u stole my thoughts...I was gonna comment saying dis post reminded me of leisure as well...
'What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows'


...n so goes de beautiful piece by henry davies...


@ divya : U continue 2 amaze me wid such lines deeply etched wid intense emotions n oozin out poignance...

However hard I try 2 find an answer 2 all these queries u've put forth,i can only feel a void inside me...Reality indeed is stranger than fiction n wid every passin moment,my faith in humanity seems 2 drop...

err,guess i got a lil' carried away(digression,thy middle name is arvind :p)

Wish u continue 2 keep uppin de ante wid each post n wish(more deeply) that i keep my promise of publishin' em :)

Sameera Ansari said...

Haunting words...

Beautifully written! :)

DMulan said...

@ vinay
valare valare santhosham :)
ur comments mean a lot :)
i have not read 'leisure'. will definitely read it, now that you and arvind have mentioned it...

DMulan said...

@ arvind
thank you chipmunk! i always look forward to your comments and reviews :)
and i do agree with you.. truth be told, even i am at a loss of answers.. most of us do care, but can do nothing... or maybe its just that we don't care enough to do something. either way, nothing seems to be changing.. only more and more blasts everyday.. Bangalore, Ahmedabad, who knows where next?

oh yeah.. you promised me... no going back on that now!

DMulan said...

@ sameera
thank you so much!

Wandering Minstrel said...

A dreadful thing it is for them,
who live in the shadows the dead cast.

brilliant lines there..

could've chosen a better title...nicely put..but it still doesn't beat "tears don't cease to fall"
that was your best!

DMulan said...

thanks! i know.. the title was spontaneous.. didnt really spend much time coming up with it.. maybe thats' why..

PraDeep said...

As a reader of this First time reader blog "ill say its Simply Crispy"

Madhav said...

The likes of Wordsworth in you, Dony!!!! Really wonderful poem. Its a point well said at the right time in the best possible way i guess. About the language, what can i say! If I say that I am Dazzled, it would still be an understatement. I did fell a little bit of immaturity in the poem(as you have tried hard to keep the last words of every line in sync for the rhyme, at times it becomes very obvious choice of words, therein loosing concentration in the real poem) but this is a major work of yours.The flow of the poem is marvelous. Threbian.....I am also happy that you have taken up such an important social issue as your words to convey. Great work...

DMulan said...

Wow! Madhav thank you so much! i knew u'd like the subject.. but Wordsworth? na... i have a long long very long way to go.. and i will with you guys' support :)
yes, a few others also pointed out that the rhyming words made it look amateurish..i love rhyming poems so always want to bring that element in my poems as well.. will try not to make it too obv next time on! thanks a lot!

Anonymous said...

Why dint i ever realize that there was so much talent walking in disgiuse with me till date....where didu hide it all......simply superb!!!!

DMulan said...

yyyeeeeeee!!!thanks mayya! :D
see see.. mein na kehti thi?? mein bahut sahi bandi hoon! :P :P

Comfortably Numb said...

Seriously one of the best poem I have read on this theme.

Beautiful.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

beautiful words...you have crafted it wonderuflly!

Kartz said...

Beautiful... Loved the description.

Peace.