Jan 25, 2018 Original Poetry
Unframing
(Inspired by the photographic work of Francesca Woodman)
©January 25th, 2018
By Vijaya Sundaram
Frames dissolve and merge,
Frames emerge and fan out into outer space
Within, she finds solace,
But without, the vast beating of wings
Calls to her.
The stairs, the window, all that moves above,
All that lives and breathes below,
All the submerged, surging, urging of voices
Speaking through her own,
Images that flow like water,
Harden like rock, sift through her fingers like sand,
Lead to one question, and
The answer lies hidden,
A starfish in the sand, being
Slowly washed away from the shore
Out to an unknown sea.
A small tidal pool mirrors a white sky,
And below it, a hermit crab
Flexes and closes its claws,
Waiting to scuttle away
Away from prying eyes, waggling fingers,
I want to follow the crab,
I turn away, and let the waves lap at my feet.
Even a crab needs to be private.
The beating of wings nearby
Calls me – I turn.
When I look back, the crab is gone.
The water comes and goes, comes and goes.
Below, a seagull stands in the waves,
Looking at the sky.
Above, a seagull wheels and soars, white and shining,
A voice in the wind.
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Jan 25, 2018 Original Poetry
Artery and Spine
©January 25th, 2018
By Vijaya Sundaram
Sun-stream along my arteries
Flashes light in my ebbing blood.
Burst of sun-strength, burst of delight.
Watch where you stand! Look out! Flash-flood!
Cold-drips down my crackling spine
Freeze into stalactites.
Freeze into stalagmites.
Wander on through! Caverns of cold!
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Jan 25, 2018 Original Poetry
Not A Tree
©January 25th, 2018
By Vijaya Sundaram
After you annihilate yourself,
What is left?
When your fondest notions:
Who you are
What you were
What you will be
Fall away like leaves from
A dying deciduous tree,
And all that’s left is
Trunk, branches, roots,
Still standing on dry, dying earth,
Do you now know,
Do you recognize your face?
Who are you now?
Tree analogies are comforting.
You are not a tree.
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